Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S&P Lowers Mercantile Mutual Rating
Jul 1 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has lowered its insurer financial strength and counterparty ratings on Australian insurer Mercantile Mutual Insurance Ltd. (MMIA) “A+” from...
FGIC Appoints Velins London Managing Director
Jun 11 2004 // Financial Guaranty Insurance Co. announced that Robert Velins has joined the company as Managing Director, International Finance, effective June 1. He is based in London and has primary responsibility for FGIC’s...
Australian Farmers Support Compulsory Fire Levy
Jun 11 2004 // A report from the Australian Broadcasting Corp. notes that The New South Wales Farmers Association has backed a proposal for council rate notices [property taxes] to carry a compulsory fire insurance levy. The article...
S&P Ups Outlook, Affirms Allianz Australia Ratings
Jun 3 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised the rating outlook on Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd. (Allianz Australia) and its associated company, Allianz New Zealand Ltd., to positive from...
MJM Investigations Notes Partnership in Australia
May 25 2004 // North Carolina-based MJM Investigations, an international private investigation firm providing innovative investigative solutions to the insurance industry, announced a new strategic partnership with Milne and Associates,...
Zurich to Sell Singapore Operations to Australia’s QBE
May 24 2004 // Zurich Financial Services Group announced that it has signed an agreement with Australia’s QBE Insurance (International) Limited for QBE to acquire 100 percent of the share capital of Zurich Insurance (Singapore)...
S&P Places Mercantile Mutual on CreditWatch-Negative
May 14 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has placed its “AA-” counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on Mercantile Mutual Insurance (Australia) Ltd. “on...
Stokholm to Resign as Zurich Australia CEO
May 13 2004 // Zurich Financial Services Group announced that Gunnar Stokholm, 55, will resign at the end of 2004 and has stepped down effective immediately from his position as Chief Executive Officer of Australia and Other...
ING Posts Q1 Gains in all Sectors Gains; Will Sell Australian Business to QBE
May 13 2004 // Holland’s ING Group made a strong start for 2004, announcing a 32 percent rise in operating net profits to 1.191 billion euros ($1.41 billion) or 57 euro cents ($0.67) per share. Overall net profits increased to...
S&P Revises AMP Outlook to ‘Stable’
Apr 21 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it has revised the rating outlook on Australian insurer AMP Ltd.’s key operating subsidiaries and holding company to stable from negative. S&P also...
Australia’s IAG Warns on Changing Weather
Apr 7 2004 // Insurance Australia Group Ltd. (IAG) chief executive Michael Hawker warned that global warming seems to be leading to an increased incidence of high-cost storms and floods in Australia and New Zealand. Hawker made the...
AIA Issues Mixed Comment on Australia Trade Pact
Feb 11 2004 // According to the American Insurance Association the new U.S.-Australia free trade agreement will help encourage investment and cement an effective trade partnership even though it falls short of completely eliminating...
A.J. Gallagher Increases Stake in Wyatt Gallagher Bassett
Dec 24 2003 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., an international insurance brokerage and risk management services firm, headquartered in Itasca, Ill., announced that its subsidiary, Gallagher Bassett Services Inc., acquired the remaining...
Imagine Completes Greenwich Acquisition; Expands Global Operations
Dec 16 2003 // The Imagine Group announced from its Barbados headquarters that it has completed the acquisition of a two-thirds equity interest in Greenwich Managing Agency at Lloyd’s. The bulletin said Greenwich would be renamed...
S&P Comments on Promina’s Profit Figures
Aug 28 2003 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services issued a bulletin noting that Australia and New Zealand’s Promina Group Ltd.’s reported half-year profits of A$135 million ($U.S.$87 million) after tax, indicating...
IAG Reports $100 Million Full Year Net
Aug 21 2003 // Insurance Australia Group Ltd. joined the growing ranks of insurers reporting strong profits. The group, which includes Insurance Australia Ltd. the successor to NRMA, the country’s largest auto insurer, reported...
S&P Releases Report on Australian Insurers
Aug 19 2003 // Standard & Poor’s has released a report on the life and nonlife insurance sectors in Australia that concludes the two are facing “very different operating environment dynamics in 2003.” It is the...
HIH Investigation Produces First Criminal Charges
Jul 3 2003 // The ongoing investigation into the collapse of Australia’s HIH Insurance Ltd. in March of 2001 with debts in excess of A$5.3 billion (U.S. $3.57 billion) has produced its first criminal charges against the bankrupt...
Cybersettle Secures Patents in Australia & Singapore
Jul 2 2003 // Cybersettle, Inc., a leading online settlement company, announced that it has been granted patents in Australia and Singapore for its systems and methods used in resolving disputes. It received a similar patent in the U.K....
S&P Maintains CreditWatch on Australia/NZ Tower Ltd. Group
May 21 2003 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that it is maintaining its CreditWatch with negative implications on various Australian and New Zealand subsidiaries of Tower Ltd. “following the profit warning...
