Latest Australia Headlines
All the headlines from our Australia Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurance Australia Group Selling All UK Operations
Dec 14 2012 // Insurance Australia Group Limited has announced the sale of all its UK operations, following the strategic review process which it undertook in May 2012. IAG said it expects to carry out the sale in two separate...
Services Trade Talks Begin as WTO Seeks Way out of Stalemate
Oct 9 2012 // Countries representing 70 percent of the global economy are set to negotiate lower barriers to trade in services after agreeing the structure of a deal, Australian Trade Minister Craig Emerson said in an interview. The...
Former QBE CEO O’Halloran to Join Australia Broker Steadfast Group
Oct 9 2012 // QBE’s former CEO Frank O’Halloran’s retirement didn’t last long. Following discussions with the company he headed until last August, it’s been agreed that any anti-competition clause following...
Finaccord Analyzes Prof. Indemnity Insurance in Australia, Canada, So. Africa
Oct 3 2012 // New research, conducted by market research consultants Finaccord, reveals that “competition among underwriters of professional indemnity insurance in Australia and Canada is at least as strong as in Europe’s...
Best Affirms QBE Insurance Group ‘A’ Ratings; Outlook Stable
Oct 1 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a+” of UK-based QBE Insurance (Europe)...
Swiss Re’s Chief Economist on the State of the Global Economy
Sep 14 2012 // “The European debt crisis is affecting the global economy, definitely,” said Kurt Karl, Swiss Re’s chief economist in an interview at the recent Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo. He did indicate that...
Fitch Notes Reinsurers More Risk-Focused For More Asian Catastrophes
Aug 23 2012 // Fitch Ratings has issued a statement which points out that the “spate of Asia-Pacific catastrophes in the past two years have prompted reinsurers to take stock of their existing portfolio and re-evaluate their...
El Nino Seen Having ‘Modest Impact’ on Australia
Aug 21 2012 // An emerging El Nino weather pattern is likely to have only a modest impact on crops and mining in Australia and could benefit sugar cane growers in Queensland, a senior forecaster said. Drier conditions have already...
AIR Expands Suite of Catastrophe Models for Australia
Jul 24 2012 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide announced the expansion of its suite of catastrophe models for Australia “with the release of the industry’s first probabilistic bushfire model and updated tropical...
Australian Woman Wins Multi-million Thalidomide Payout from Diageo
Jul 18 2012 // An Australian woman has won a multi-million dollar payout from UK Company Diageo Plc, the local distributor of the drug Thalidomide that caused birth defects in thousand of babies around the world in the 1960s, her lawyers...
El Nino Indicators Ease; Still Expected in Late 2012
Jul 17 2012 // Climate indicators for an El Niño event in the western Pacific have eased slightly in the past two weeks, but meteorologists still expect the weather pattern, which can bring drought to the Asia-Pacific and damage crops,...
Kerr to Head BMS Growth in Australia, Asia-Pacific
Jul 10 2012 // Global broker BMS Group announced that it has “achieved another major strategic goal with the appointment of respected Australia-based facultative broker, Glenn Kerr.” Kerr will join the BMS’ wholesale...
Insurance Australia Group to Review UK Business
May 21 2012 // Insurance Australia Group’s Managing Director and CEO Mike Wilkins has indicated that it is an “appropriate time to assess the options for the UK business, given the improvement in its performance and the...
Lockton to Open New Australian Operations in Perth and Sydney
Apr 25 2012 // Privately held insurance broker Lockton announced that it will open two new offices in Australia, establishing a new insurance brokerage, Lockton Australia Pty Ltd, with locations in Perth and Sydney. “Adding Lockton...
Tsunami Watch Cancelled; AIR Worldwide Analyzes Quake Risk
Apr 12 2012 // Yesterday the world held its breath, as two strong earthquakes within hours of each other shook the Indian Ocean sea bed, not far from the epicenter of the quake in 2004, which generated a tsunami that took over a quarter...
March’s Severe Weather Proved Deadly, Costly in U.S., Globally
Apr 6 2012 // March was a deadly and costly month in parts of the United States. A significant severe weather outbreak affected parts of the U.S. Midwest, the Tennessee Valley and the Southeast during the first week of March, killing at...
Pilot Forced to Land after Snake Pops out of Dashboard
Apr 6 2012 // An Australian pilot said he was forced to make a harrowing landing reminiscent of a Hollywood thriller after a snake popped out from behind his dashboard and slithered across his leg during a solo cargo flight. Braden...
Aon Benfield March Cat Recap: Severe U.S. Weather, Quakes & Floods
Apr 6 2012 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corp, has released the latest edition of its Global Catastrophe Recap report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide...
Cooper Gay Names Calverley New Managing Director for Australia
Apr 5 2012 // Cooper Gay Australia, the Sydney based reinsurance broker, announced that Jon Calverley will be assuming the responsibilities of managing director, effective immediately. The bulletin noted that he “will be key to...
Ratings Recap: ACS (NZ) Ltd., Transmonde, Risk Re, Ansvar Australia
Mar 27 2012 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to ‘B+’ (Good) from ‘B++’ (Good) and issuer credit rating to “bbb-” from “bbb” of New Zealand’s ACS (NZ)...
