Europe Intelligence Wire articles from October 2003

Europe Intelligence Wire archives from October 2003

News Analysis - Raters are tolerated but not loved.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Vic Wyman. Imagine waking up and finding that the rating agencies had packed their bags and disappeared into the night. Many rated companies would cheer at the news that the influential rating analysts...

News Analysis - Rating the Rendez-Vous.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Isobel McCalman and Marc Jones. The rating agencies traditionally get in early during the Rendez-Vous event with their comments on the state of the reinsurance industry. This year was no exception, with...

News Analysis - More turbulence is on the way.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Vic Wyman. Ralf Oelssner is still not a happy man. He was not happy two years ago and he certainly is not in much better humour now. Because, as the director of insurance at the German airline...

News Analysis - IUMI Conference Update - Profitability is key.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Eric Alexander. Last month's conference of the International Union of Marine Insurance (IUMI) in Seville focused on the issue of profitability revolving around the conference theme of "Our voyage to quality,...

Reweb - First seen on the Reinsurance website www.insurancewindow.net.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Munich Re made a loss of EUR603m in the first half of 2003, in contrast with the EUR4.1bn profit it made in the first six months of 2002. The fall in profits was blamed on a high provision for taxation in the second...

Hurricane Isabel threatens US.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Hurricane Isabel was nearing the coast of the US state of North Carolina as Reinsurance went to press. According to predictions from the US National Hurricane Centre, Isabel was projected to pass through Virginia,...

Atlantic risks are underestimated.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Tsunamis in the northern Atlantic Ocean are more frequent then previously thought, according to the Benfield Hazard Research Centre's latest report. One of the largest recent events was the Lisbon earthquake of 1755,...

Maemi hits East China Sea.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Typhoon Maemi caused widespread damage when it hit South Korea and the Okinawan islands to the south of Japan in September. The typhoon was the most powerful windstorm to hit the islands since 1968. Winds of up to...

ISO spreads comp services.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) The US-based Insurance Services Office (ISO) has announced that it will provide workers' compensation injury-reporting services in all 50 US states. ISO will use electronic data processing technology to file reports...

Prettejohn calls for efficiency.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Lloyd's chief executive Nick Prettejohn has warned that the insurance industry must take urgent action if it wants a profitable future. Speaking at the Chartered Insurance Institute's annual conference, he called on...

Life reinsurance market set to grow, says S&P.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) A new report from rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) claims that the life reinsurance market is set for a resurgence. The report claims that life rates have been kept low for years by a combination of aggressive...

ESG Re files against D&T.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Dublin-based ESG Re has announced that it is seeking compensation from three separate branches of Deloitte & Touche (D&T) and one of its partners. The company filed proceedings in California's Superior Court against...

Asian trio broaden alliance.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Sompo Japan Insurance and Korean firms Tong Bu Fire & Marine and LG Insurance have expanded their business ties in seven Asian countries. The trio has agreed that Sompo Japan will underwrite on-life insurance...

Levene slams compensation culture in US.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Lloyd's of London chairman Lord Levene has attacked the way that a wave of litigation has created a compensation culture in the US. Speaking in Los Angeles he said that the sheer volume of litigation was "pernicious,...

Re-ratings - Employer's Re Corporation.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Employer's Re Corporation (ERC) has had its financial strength and counterparty credit ratings downgraded by Standard & Poor's (S&P) from 'AA-' to 'A+', with a negative outlook. The rating agency blamed the downgrade on...

Technology Focus - ri3k key to December renewals for 8 leading reinsurance companies.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Reinsurance trading platform ri3k has announced that a group of eight major reinsurance companies will be using its technology for the treaty renewals that start on 31 December. The companies include Ace Overseas...

Technology Focus - Taiwan quake risks studied by RMS.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Risk Management Solutions (RMS) has provided the risk analysis for a $100m catastrophe bond issue for the government of Taiwan. The three-year bonds, which are the first catastrophe bonds to be issued in the Far...

Technology Focus - Swiss Re and MMC to create flood risk solution.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Swiss Re has joined forces with leading Czech technology company MultiMedia Computer (MMC) to produce a new flood risk assessment tool for the Czech insurance market. The model comes after severe flooding hit central...

Comment - Broadening your horizons.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Sal Zaffino, chief executive of global reinsurance intermediary Guy In finance, diversification is a widely accepted principle. If all of an investor's funds are invested in one asset class, the investor...

Comment - Testing times for reinsurers.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Isobel McCalman, Editor. For reinsurers it seems the response to the 11 September terrorist attacks in the US have left it with something of a dilemma. Whatever else it was, the event was also an extreme test...

Comment - The bigger picture.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Henry Keeling, chief executive of reinsurance operations, XL Capital. Just occasionally, a change of perspective is good for the soul - it is probably good for business too. Every now and then, as reinsurers,...

Interview - Things are looking up.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Isobel McCalman. "The atmosphere in the Singapore reinsurance market is cautiously optimistic", says Richard Austen, chief executive of Arthur J Gallagher. The Singapore market has seen a period of...

Market Report: Singapore - A hub of activity.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Isobel McCalman. The Singapore economy, like most of the Asia region and the general global economy, has been hit hard by the Sars virus and the Iraq war. The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) reports...

Market Report: India - The chosen one.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) General Insurance Corporation (GIC) of India was designated as the Indian reinsurer in November 2000 by an act of parliament which meant it functioned exclusively as a life and non-life reinsurer. This means it acts as...

Market report: Japan - A disaster waiting to happen?
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Jeremy Golden. The torrential rain that hit the main southern island of Kyushu in July this year was a stark reminder of Japan's vulnerability to natural disasters. In the same month, a series of tremors...

Technical Report: Pricing and capacity - Desperately seeking security.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: John Sanders. Some $240bn in capital has left the reinsurance industry in the last few years. Much of that has gone in underwriting losses or reserve strengthening, but the biggest cause of the disappearing...

Technical Report: Pricing and capacity - The price is right.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Dr Clemens Muth, head of economic and insurance research, Munich Re. A close look at the insurance industry towards the end of 2003 shows that primary (re)insurers are being structurally challenged by the...

Asbestos - Defusing the asbestos time bomb.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Marc Jones. Asbestos used to be the miracle product of the 20th century. Ships, homes and offices - it was almost literally everywhere. Times have changed however and what was once praised as a lifesaver is...

UK Legal - A question of aggregation.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: John Butler. The question before the House of Lords in Lloyds TSB General Insurance Holdings v Lloyds Bank Group Insurance Co. Ltd [2003] UKHL 48, as a preliminary issue, was whether various companies in the...

Legal: Litigation - Getting to the point.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Huhnsik Chang, a partner in the (re)insurance department at Edwards & Among the latest product liability/mass tort lawsuits facing the pharmaceutical and health care industries are claims concerning...

Regulation Focus - Legislation Update - UK companies vulnerable to Sarbanes Oxley.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Gary Izatt, a director at Gary Izatt Associates. The Sarbanes Oxley Act is still not a name that is familiar in the UK, but the US Act will have an impact on all UK companies that trade shares on the NYSE or...

Regulation Focus - LMP Changes - Modernisation of London market continues.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) With a number of different projects from the London Markets Principles (LMP) programme maturing, the International Underwriting Association (IUA) believes that the 2004 renewal season will mark a significant milestone...

Regulation Focus - S&P Report - A question of collateral.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Demand is growing for changes to the present collateralisation rules for alien reinsurers operating in the US, thanks to a new report by rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P). At present US regulators insist that...

Summit Report - Thinking ahead.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Isobel McCalman. The first of five summits sponsored by Guy Carpenter and Lloyd's was held at the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous. The event gathers a sector-leading range of chief executives to debate the foremost...

Monte Carlo Roundtable - Does size matter?
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Isobel McCalman. PricewaterhouseCoopers and Reinsurance magazine once again took the opportunity of the Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous to gather a cross-section of senior executives from the reinsurance sector to...

Baden-Baden Preview - Food for thought.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Eric Alexander. Once again it is time to head to Baden-Baden for the latest round in the reinsurance renewal process. While all renewal negotiations ultimately revolve around the price of buying cover, and...

US Legal - California dreaming.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Peter Chaffetz and Steven Schwartz. For years, reinsurers on both sides of the Atlantic have been grappling with issues arising out of workers' compensation and similar business. In the US, for example,...

Systemic risk - The elements of risk.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) A new study from Swiss Re's research division, sigma, considers the role that reinsurers play in absorbing risk from insurers and questions whether they themselves become a risk. The study uses the notion of...

Claims Focus - Global terrorism index gives terror snapshot.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) The World Markets Research Centre (WMRC) has published the results of its global terrorism index 2003-2004. The index examines the possibility of terrorist action in 186 countries around the world, defining terrorism...

Claims Focus - SalvageSale and Webster form global alliance.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) US online salvage marketplace SalvageSale has announced a global strategic alliance with WK Webster, a UK-based claims handling company for (re)insurers, brokers and captives. The two companies will be working to...

Business: Training - Limbering up for the road ahead.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Byline: Marc Jones. With the market constantly changing and the spectre of corporate failures hanging over the industry, (re)insurance companies are making sure that they are as up to date as possible. But in the UK...

Claims Focus - Hurricane Fabian batters Bermuda.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) Initial estimates of the damage caused by Hurricane Fabian in Bermuda predict that the total bill could come to more then $300m. The category three hurricane hit the island on 5 September, causing extensive damage...

Claims Focus - US P&C market still weak says ISO.
October 1, 2003... (From Reinsurance) The US property and casualty (P&C) market is still recovering from the after-effects of losses from the 11 September attacks and low premium growth in the 1990s, according to a new study by the Insurance Services Office...

Insight - PIPs to the Post.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Peter Bartram. Has opening up the market improved the cost and quality of regulatory news distribution - announcements such as results, mergers, acquisitions and directors' share dealings? Eighteen...

Editor's letter - What's the ASB's job after 2005.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) It has been on the cards for years now; at last the compulsory adoption of international accounting standards is acquiring all the drum-banging and bandwagon-rolling that accompanied the crescendo in the run-up to...

Gill a First Choice as United chief exec.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Former First Choice Holidays and Manchester United FD David Gill has been named as United's chief executive. Gill takes charge following Peter Kenyon's surprise move to Chelsea. MyTravel Group FD Kazia Kantor...

Insight - End of an Era.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Gary Flood. The IT industry is dead. It's no longer possible - or worth trying - to achieve competitive differentiation through the use of IT. Companies, as a priority, should therefore reduce their...

Live Wires.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) BusinessWire: San Francisco-based company that provides a range of information-dissemination services. More than 40 years old, it now operates in five countries and, it claims, serves companies in 100 different...

Insight interview - Wake up Call.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Tom Berry. "We announced the JD Edwards acquisition on the morning of Monday, 2 June, this year. I had spent weeks and weeks on due diligence, working nights and weekends. I clearly remember being with...

Accounting - Trust = confidence in the truth.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Peter Williams. Post-Enron, much of the reason for the sluggish performance of the stock market is investor lack of confidence in the credibility of financial reporting and disclosure. Restoring that...

IT strategy - Shoot the dog, miss the point.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Tom Berry. Craig Conway, flamboyant CEO of Californian enterprise resource planning vendor PeopleSoft, isn't usually shy about slamming the opposition - as rival Oracle's recent hostile takeover bid...

Hack attack.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Microsoft has warned customers of a new "critical" security flaw in its software that could affect users of Great Plains and eEnterprise. The problem could allow hackers to compromise a Windows system, read files...

Economics - Like father, like son?
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Dennis Turner. The scenario is a familiar one. The Americans lead a coalition that defeats Saddam Hussein in the Middle East but, less than two years later, the victorious President Bush is defeated by...

Rate cut a possibility.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Despite the European Central Bank's decision to hold interest rates in September, Morgan Stanley believes there is a case for a one-quarter per cent cut later this year. Falling GDP in Germany, France, Italy and...

The Financial Director interview - It never rains ...
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Construction company Amey transformed itself and its share price in 2001 when the PFI sector was the darling of the stock market. But the market crashed and the rapid departure of two finance directors, a...

Cover story - Hidden Depths.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) National accounting standards now probably rank as the biggest administrative headache for FDs of quoted companies. The transition from an old, familiar rule book to one that hasn't even been finished yet is...

Outsourcing - Indian Takeaway.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Despite sharing a border with two hostile nuclear powers, the lack of a reliable transport and power infrastructure, an almost impenetrable bureaucracy and rampant corruption, India remains the preferred...

IT systems - Dare to Repair.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Anthony Harrington. It used to be the case that no IT director worth his or her salt would contemplate allowing a user to load an application, much less an operating system patch, on to their desktop...

Financial directions - CSR functions need collective voice.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) This is the main argument behind Cranfield School of Management's assessment - conducted between January and April 2003 - of CSR leaders in six multinationals, including Diageo, Pilkington, Unisys (EMEA) and...

Financial directions - Claims costs put US companies at risk.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) US businesses face a gap between their potential liability risk and their insurance protection, due to rising insurance costs. Only the largest companies have bucked the trend and have been able to afford to...

Financial directions - Fewer profit warnings on record for UK firms in Q2.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Warnings decrease UK businesses recorded 1,357 profit warnings in Q2 2003, a 9% drop on the previous quarter (1,491), according to KPMG and Mandis research. But the retail sector has seen a 31% increase in...

Financial bites.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) "When you start as I did, as a union member 35 years ago, you're blessed to be in the position that I am in today. So each year, when I learn of my award, my response is the very same, simple four words - 'I'm...

Financial directions - Economic recovery sets promising tone.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Graeme Johnston. Economic background The prevailing mood in financial markets changed little over August. Economic releases continued to provide positive surprises and, while the US remained...

Extraordinary Items - Market forces.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) The number-crunchers at Edinburgh-based Company Reporting usually dissect the notes in annual reports and highlight such things as changes in accounting policies that just happen to flatter reported profits. But...

Extraordinary Items - Past participles.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) A new Dictionary of Banking & Finance arrives on our desks, courtesy of Harry Potter publishers Bloomsbury. But, alas, we fear that Lord Voldemort has been at work, casting a spell over this "thoroughly revised"...

Extraordinary Items - Prime numbers.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Our sister title's Accountancy Age Awards 2003 are heading for a climax with the announcement of the shortlists. Heading up the Finance Director of the Year category, sponsored by accountancy recruitment business...

Extraordinary Items - Happy medium.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) New York firm GovernanceMetrics International has analysed the corporate governance behaviour of more than 1,600 companies in the US, Canada, Britain and Australia, and cross-matched that against the total...

Extraordinary Items - Financially challenged.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Just to add to the general state of despondency, uncertainty and gloom, it appears that FDs are becoming much less bullish about the KPI nearest to their hearts - their own salary expectations. Courtesy of our...

Fleet - Benefits - On The Road Again.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Anthony Harrington. One of the government's frequently stated aims is to get us all to use our cars less and public transport more. So it should follow, then, that the government would push to get...

Fleet - Corporate manslaughter - Around the Next Corner.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Peter Bartram. The traffic may not be moving much faster, but the number of rules and regulations governing the way companies operate their vehicle fleets certainly is. This autumn sees two important...

Fleet - Tax changes - Seen to be Clean.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: John Maslen, editor, Fleet News. Opting for a growing range of the cleanest, diesel-engined cars could minimise drivers' tax bills for years to come and ensure employers' National Insurance payments...

Fleet - In-car technology - Top Gear.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Anthony Harrington. Few would argue that staying alert behind the wheel is the most important aspect of driving a car, which is why the concept of turning vehicles into 'infotainment' portals is...

Fleet - Car reviews - Top 10 Luxury Diesels.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) If the catalyst for this change was the new company car tax introduced last year, the quality of diesel cars on offer these days must also have had a significant impact. Here are 10 of the most luxurious and...

Fleet - Leasing - Take Your Pick.
October 1, 2003... (From Financial Director) Byline: Anthony Harrington. There are many reasons why companies want to be able to offer eligible employees a company car for periods of less than a year. For example, visiting managers from overseas...

In desperate need of D&O.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) THERE is simply no way to ignore the issues that currently surround the UK liability market. The demise of Bradstock yesterday, citing its failure to find affordable indemnity cover, only goes to highlight that the...

Goshawk anger as syndicate is given solvency warning.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) Byline: Jon Guy INSURANCE group Goshawk is to meet with rating agency Moody's to tell the company it has got it badly wrong after the agency issued a perfomance downgrade yesterday for the group's Lloyd's...

US sector told to hold firm on prices.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) Byline: Richard Banks THE US property/casualty sector saw its first-half net income grow to $14.5bn up 231.6% on last year but it is still not producing underwriting profits and experts have warned the industry...

Catlin floor out of Lloyd's.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) Byline: Adrian Ladbury CATLIN Underwriting Agencies, the privately-held Lloyd's agency that manages syndicate 2003, has today opened a new trading floor in its Minster Court offices, writes Adrian Ladbury, London....

Brokers in PI crisis.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) Byline: Liz Booth THE collapse of Lloyd's broker Bradstock Group, which has been blamed on its inability to find affordable professional indemnity (PI) cover, is being seen as a signal of a much wider crisis for UK...

Failures expected in German life market.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) Byline: Adrian Ladbury INSOLVENCIES are expected in the German life insurance industry, mainly because of a E20bn ($23.3bn) "tax trap", according to credit rating agency Fitch. Fitch believes that beleaguered...

Working on is the retirement nightmare for the future.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) Byline: Adrian Ladbury MANY UK and European workers will face having to work beyond the current retirement age in order to build up a big enough pension fund for retirement. Constantly rising longevity,...

LCL deal signals end of Trenwick in London.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) Byline: Jon Guy RUN-off specialists Litigation Control Group (LCL Group) yesterday completed the acquisition of troubled insurer Trenwick's London market insurance company Trenwick International Limited (TIL). ...

How the international claims circus is becoming the greatest show on earth.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) Byline: Jon Guy CLAIMS issues seem to be dominating the industry at present, with AIG's Martin Sullivan launching an attack on the US tort system and calling for a radical overhaul before it drags the insurance...

Sport's big events prefer alternatives to insurance.
October 1, 2003... (From Insurance Day) Byline: Symon Ross WHEN world football's governing body Fifa announced, a few months before the event, that Axa had pulled out of covering the 2002 World Cup, fears abounded that the same fate could befall other...