Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
S&P Affirms AMP ‘AA’ Ratings, Outlook Negative
Jul 3 2001 // Standard & Poor’s affirmed the double-‘A’ counterparty credit ratings and insurer financial strength ratings on the principle operating entities of Australian insurer AMP, but changed the outlook...
Battle Shaping Up Between U.S.- Australian Creditors of HIH
Jun 28 2001 // Several big creditors of failed Australian insurer HIH are pressing ahead with lawsuits in the U.S. aimed at stopping Tony McGrath, the KPMG partner appointed as provisional liquidator, from marshaling HIH’s U.S....
Fortis Sells Australian Unit to CGNU
Jun 15 2001 // Australia’s AMP confirmed ongoing rumors that it would sell its general insurance business by closing a deal the Queensland-based insurance and financial group Suncorp Metway Ltd., which agreed to buy all its holding...
Fortis Sells Australian Unit to CGNU
Jun 14 2001 // The Belgo-Dutch financial services group Fortis announced the sale of its Australian property insurance unit to the U.K.’s CGNU for € 205 million ($379 million) in cash. Fortis indicated that, while profitable,...
HIH Liquidator Confirms Minimum $1.4 Billion Loss
May 28 2001 // KPMG partner Tony McGrath, the provisional liquidator for Australia’s HIH Insurance Ltd., released his provisional estimates on Friday confirming the insurer’s mounting debts – the minimum deficit now...
More Troubles in Australia Following HIH Collapse
May 24 2001 // As estimates of its potential losses mount, the collapse of HIH, Australia’s second largest insurer, continues to cause problems for the government, the insurance industry and numerous policy holders. In an effort to...
Australian Government Steps In As HIH Loss Estimates Mount
May 15 2001 // The Australian government plans to bail out at least some of the policyholders left stranded by the collapse of HIH Insurance last March, as loss estimates continue to mount. However HIH’s U.S.-based subsidiaries,...
Shakeup at Australia’s NRMA
Apr 11 2001 // Angry shareholders of Australia’s largest insurance company, NRMA, have forced the resignation of both the Chairman, Nick Whitlam and the managing director, Eric Dodd. Both executives had been criticized by major...
Australian Insurer HIH Seeks Bankruptcy Protection as Losses Mount
Apr 9 2001 // HIH Insurance Ltd., following in the footsteps of ReAC and GIO, became the latest Australian insurance company to be forced to the wall by mounting losses. Rumored to be in deep trouble for the last six months, the...
Australia May Welcome More Captives
Dec 13 2000 // Some new proposals put forth by the Australian insurance industry may mean increases in the number of captive insurers choosing to domicile there, and the return of companies that have gone offshore to Singapore, Bermuda...
HIH Sells Renewal Rights to Argonaut, Alaska National
Dec 11 2000 // In the latest action in the volatile workers’ compensation arena, Argonaut Insurance Company announced it will acquire the renewal rights and other tangible assets associated with the workers’ comp business of...
St. Paul Offers Coverage to Australian Doctors
Dec 8 2000 // The Sydney office of St. Paul International Insurance Co. Ltd., part of the St. Paul Group, announced that it will offer Australian doctors a medical indemnity policy “with the broadest possible coverages for...
Floods Hit Eastern Australia
Nov 23 2000 // Following almost a week of uninterrupted rain, roughly one third of the Eastern Australian State of New South Wales is under water. The worst floods in over 20 years have caused widespread damage, and forced the evacuation...
Zurich To Expand in Australia and New Zealand
Nov 22 2000 // Zurich Financial Services plans “a substantial expansion of its financial services capabilities in Australia and New Zealand.” In conjunction with two local companies, the Anglo-Suisse giant plans to...
Australia’s AMP May Shed GIO
Nov 15 2000 // After fighting hard to acquire it, AMP, Australia’s largest life insurer and fund manager, may be seeking to divest itself of GIO, the distressed property casualty insurer it took control of in 1998 at a cost of...
St. Paul Completes Australian Acquisition
Oct 10 2000 // The St. Paul International Insurance Co., a subsidiary of The St. Paul Companies, announced that it had completed the purchase of Australia Pacific Professional Indemnity Insurance Co.,Ltd.(APPIIL), enlarging the...
St. Paul International Insurance to Acquire APPIIL
Aug 31 2000 // St. Paul International Insurance Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of The St. Paul Companies Inc., announced today it intends to acquire the Australia Pacific Professional Indemnity Insurance co., Ltd. (APPIIL) in Brisbane, from GIO...
Australian Westpac Eyes Acquisition Opportunities
Jul 7 2000 // Sydney-based Westpac Banking Corp. is reviewing possibilities of acquiring insurance and funds management businesses. “We certainly remain excited about opportunities in bancassurance, as we feel it represents the...
Australia Juggles Mergers & Disasters
Apr 3 2000 // Driven in part by 1999’s particularly poor results, and perhaps encouraged by the recent mega-merger announcements from Europe (CGU-Norwich Union and Deutsche Bank-Dresdner Bank), Australia’s insurance/...
Australia Battered by Storms, Floods
Feb 25 2000 // Monsoon driven rains continued to dump water on central and Northeastern Australia, knocking out bridges, flooding highways and isolating many small communities. The Thomson River was expected to crest at 6 meters (19.8...
