Latest France Headlines

All the headlines from our France Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Commentary by Gordon Brown:* Europe Risks Going the Way of Japan

Sep 14 2012 // The good news is that Europe is no longer going the way of Greece. The sad news is that it is threatening to go the way of Japan. After years of hesitation punctuated by panic, Europe has finally accepted the compelling...

Moody’s Changes EU Rating Outlook to Negative

Sep 4 2012 // Moody’s Investors Service has changed its outlook on the ‘Aaa’ rating of the European Union to negative, warning it might downgrade the bloc if it decides to cut the ratings on the EU’s four biggest...

Equipment Failure, Training, Inspection Flaws at Fault for Rio-Paris Crash

Jul 6 2012 // Pilot error, defective sensors, inadequate training and insufficient oversight combined to send an Air France passenger plane plunging into the south Atlantic in 2009 in the airline’s worst disaster, French...

Will There Ever Be a United States of Europe?

Jun 6 2012 // From recent news you will have learned that the euro zone crisis continues to be the 700 pound gorilla in the room of the global economy. It’s become increasingly clear that, whatever happens in Greece on June 17,...

Google Wins Copyright Ruling in France

May 29 2012 // A French court ruled that Google is not responsible for filtering content on YouTube, dealing a blow to French broadcaster TF1 which sought damages for copyrighted sports and movies which ended up on the video-sharing...

Tackling Euro Zone Crisis is Top Priority for G8 Leaders

May 18 2012 // Leaders of major industrial economies meet this weekend to try to tackle a full-blown crisis in Europe where fears are growing that Greece could leave the euro zone bloc, threatening the future of the common...

Ratings Recap: Saturn, CCR, Arch (Pref. Shares)

Mar 29 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” to Vermont-based Saturn Insurance Inc., and has assigned a...

Jenkins Names French VP of Construction and Real Estate

Mar 9 2012 // Concord, Calif.-based Jenkins Insurance Group named Peter French vice president in its construction and real estate practice. French’s primary focus will encompass commercial, civil and residential construction, as...

Best Assigns ‘A-‘ Ratings to Assurances Mutuelles de France

Feb 22 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” to Assurances Mutuelles de France (AM), both with stable...

Best Assigns ‘A-‘ Ratings to Assurances Mutuelles de France

Feb 17 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” to Assurances Mutuelles de France, both with stable...

Moody’s Warns May Downgrade Global Banks, Cuts Ratings on Insurers

Feb 16 2012 // Moody’s warned on Thursday it may cut the credit ratings of 17 global and 114 European financial institutions in another sign the impact of the euro zone government debt crisis is spreading throughout the global...

Torus Appoints Rousseau to Develop General Property in France

Feb 6 2012 // Global specialty insurer Torus has appointed Gilles Rousseau as Senior Underwriter, General Property. He is based in Paris and has more than 30 years of underwriting experience, as well as “extensive knowledge of the...

PIP Breast Implant Scandal Exposes Weaknesses in EU Safety Net

Feb 3 2012 // In June 2000, when American medical regulators posted a warning letter on the Internet about problems at a breast-implant maker in southern France, French authorities didn’t pay much attention. A U.S. Food and Drug...

French P/C Insurers’ Outlook Now Stable: Moody’s

Jan 31 2012 // In a new industry outlook published today, Moody’s Investors Service says that it has changed the outlook for the French property and casualty (P/C) sector to stable from negative, reflecting insurers’ smooth...

French Broker Gras Savoye Receives License to Operate in Georgia

Jan 10 2012 // France’s Gras Savoye, which is closely associated with Willis, announced that it has received a license to commence brokerage operations in Georgia (the country – not the state), as part of its initiative to expand...

AXA, Japan Post Top Best’s List of World’s Largest Insurers

Jan 4 2012 // France’s AXA S.A. has again topped the list of the world’s 25 largest insurance companies, based on premiums written, compiled by A.M. Best. The lists, which were compiled both on asset value and on net...

Breast Implant Scandal Shows Regulators in Dark on Tracking Risks

Dec 30 2011 // Long before the latest global breast implant scare, American health officials were toying with the idea of building a registry that would track patients with implants. The registry would give a better idea of the number of...

Financial, Legal Woes Dogged Breast Implant Company

Dec 27 2011 // Signs of legal problems and financial losses surrounding the French breast implant manufacturer at the heart of a scandal affecting hundreds of thousands of women worldwide can be traced back as far back as 2003,...

Storm Joachim Hits Northern Europe; AIR Sees No ‘Significant’ Losses

Dec 20 2011 // Catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide, has reported on winter storm Joachim, which developed over the Atlantic and became a severe extra-tropical cyclone over Western Europe late last week. Central pressure went as low...

Best Places Ratings of Caisse Centrale de Reassurance on Review/Negative

Dec 15 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has placed under review with negative implications the financial strength rating of ‘A++’ (Superior) and the issuer credit rating of “aa+” of...