Latest Europe Headlines
All the headlines from our Europe Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Japan Oil Buyers to Return to Private Insurance for Iran Imports
Jan 17 2014 // Japanese crude buyers are set to switch back to private insurance providers for transportation of Iranian oil, after relief from some EU sanctions goes into effect next week, industry and government sources said. Under the...
Europe to Relax Reinsurance Ban on Iranian Oil Exports Next Week
Jan 16 2014 // Europe is days from suspending a ban on reinsuring tankers hauling Iranian oil, a measure that helped cut the nation’s crude exports by more than 50 percent when it was implemented. The six-month relaxation starts...
Europe to Experience More Droughts Due to Climate Change
Jan 15 2014 // Europe is poised to suffer more droughts as the 21st century progresses because of climate change, according to a study by the European Union’s Joint Research Centre and Germany’s University of Kassel. Many...
Chubb Europe Launches Updated ‘MasterPackage’ for Technology Companies
Jan 15 2014 // Chubb Insurance Company of Europe SE announced the launch of the new edition of its MasterPackage for Technology Companies policy. It described the product as a “comprehensive first and third party policy to cater...
Global Natural Disasters Cost Insurers $45B in 2013: Impact Forecasting
Jan 13 2014 // In 2013, there were 296 separate natural disaster events that produced total economic losses of $192 billion – four percent below the 10-year average of $200 billion, but above the average 259 events, according to a...
EU Sanctions Relief for Iran Includes Lifting Insurance Ban
Jan 13 2014 // European Union governments will implement all EU sanctions relief for Iran covered by a landmark nuclear deal on Jan. 20, the day the agreement takes effect – including lifting a ban on insuring its oil, officials...
Europe Hit by $2.25 B Economic Loss: Impact Forecasting December Cat Report
Jan 8 2014 // Impact Forecasting, the catastrophe model development center of excellence at Aon Benfield, has issued its monthly Global Catastrophe Recap report for December 2013. It highlights the impact on Europe of a series of...
India Refiners Delay Iran Oil Imports on Failure to Get Reinsurance
Jan 8 2014 // Indian Oil Corp. and two other state- run refiners said they will defer resuming purchases of Iranian crude by at least three months, having failed to get reinsurance for shipments after Europe said it would relax a...
Munich Re’s Review of 2013 Cat Losses Focuses on Weather-Related Events
Jan 7 2014 // In its annual review of loss events in the past year, Munich Re emphasized the “exceptionally high losses from weather-related catastrophes in Europe and Supertyphoon Haiyan,” which, the report said,...
Yahoo Says Some Ads on its European Sites Spread Malware
Jan 6 2014 // Some advertisements on Yahoo Inc’s European websites last week spread malicious software, Yahoo said on Sunday, potentially infecting thousands of users. On Friday, Fox-IT, a Delft, Netherlands-based computer...
Europe’s Stormy Weather as Winter Storms Slam the UK: AIR Worldwide Analysis
Dec 30 2013 // According to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, over the last several days, a series of three winter storms (named Christian, Dirk, and Erich) cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes across the UK and France and...
Standard & Poor’s Report Reviews Global Insurance Ratings
Dec 20 2013 // A report from S&P’s rating services notes that “after revising its insurance criteria earlier this year”, the rating agency “affirmed more than 91 percent of its global ratings, raised 7...
Swiss Re Reports 2013 Disaster Losses at $130 Billion; $44 Billion Insured
Dec 18 2013 // According to preliminary estimates from Swiss Re’s latest sigma report, insured losses from natural catastrophes and man-made disasters in 2013 are estimated to be around $44 billion, down from $81 billion in 2012....
Willis International Chairman Sarah Turvill to Retire; Will Join Board
Dec 18 2013 // Willis Group Holdings announced that Sarah Turvill will retire as Chairman of Willis International at the end of 2013, and that she has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director to the Willis Limited Board, effective in...
Torus Receives Lloyd’s Approval to Expand Syndicate 1301
Dec 17 2013 // Global specialty insurer Torus announced from its office in London that its Syndicate 1301 business plan for 2014 has been approved by Lloyd’s. “The plan increases the syndicate’s capacity to £180...
AIR Estimates Windstorm Xaver Insured Losses: $963 Million to $1.92 Billion
Dec 13 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured wind losses from Extratropical Cyclone Xaver will range between €700 million [$963 million] and €1.4 billion [$1.926 billion], with the majority of the...
Best Downgrades QBE and Subs’ Issuer Credit Ratings; Affirms FSR
Dec 12 2013 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has downgraded the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to “a” from “a+” and affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) of...
Low Interest Rates Biggest Risk for Europe Insurers, Eiopa Says
Dec 12 2013 // Low interest rates are the biggest risk for European insurers and pension funds, weighing on sales of retirement products, the region’s top industry supervisor said. Interest rates are “putting pressure mostly...
Chinese Hackers Spied on Europeans before G20 Meeting: Research Firm
Dec 11 2013 // Chinese hackers eavesdropped on the computers of five European foreign ministries before last September’s G20 Summit, which was dominated by the Syrian crisis, according to research by computer security firm FireEye...
Northern Europe Cleans Up After Extratropical Cyclone Xaver: AIR Report
Dec 11 2013 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide has issued a report on the aftermath of Extratropical Cyclone Xaver, which affected large parts of northern Europe, particularly the United Kingdom, Northern Ireland, Germany, the...
