Latest France Headlines

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

GE Insurance Solutions Details Additions to Global Management Staff

Nov 18 2004 // GE Insurance Solutions has announced the addition of expertise to its Property Insurance & Services, Global Asset Protection business unit. Field Operations Leader Tim Heinze said the unit has had a “great...

French Asbestos Verdict Compensates Miners

Oct 26 2004 // A French administrative court under the jurisdiction of the national health service has ordered the owners of an abandoned asbestos mine in Corsica to pay compensation to 13 former miners and their families as a result of...

AGF Posts Record $660 Million 1st Half Net

Aug 16 2004 // AGF, the French subsidiary of Germany’s Allianz Group, announced record first half net income of 532 million euros ($660 million), and annualized return on equity of 16.3 percent. “The AGF Group is in line with...

S&P Raises Aviva’s French Unit to ‘AA-‘

Aug 12 2004 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings announced that it has raised its long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on non-life French insurer Aviva Assurances S.A. to ‘AA-‘ from...

SCOR Offers Convertible Bonds

Jun 28 2004 // France’s SCOR Group announced that it would offer 180 million euros ($218 million) worth of 4.125 percent unsecured convertible bonds within the French market. SCOR’s bulletin stressed that no offering of the...

SCOR VIE Names Executive Committee

Jun 10 2004 // French reinsurer SCOR announced that the following persons have been named to the SCOR VIE Executive Committee at a meeting of its Board of Directors, chaired by CEO Denis Kessler: — Romain Durand, Chief Executive...

Paris Airport Collapse Insurance Recoveries Unclear

Jun 1 2004 // A portion of the newly constructed Terminal 2E at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport collapsed on Sunday May 23, killing four people, and sending shock waves throughout France. Over a week later the cause of the...

Best Upgrades Rating of France’s CCR to ‘A+’; Revises Outlook to Stable

May 24 2004 // A.M. Best Co. announced that it has upgraded the financial strength rating to “A+” (Superior) from “A” (Excellent) of France’s Caisse Centrale de Reassurance (CCR), and has revised its outlook...

S&P Issues Report on French Mutual Sector

May 6 2004 // A newly issued report from Standard & Poor’s concludes that “France’s mutual insurance sector remains healthy, but its long-term prosperity is being threatened by external competition and exposure...

SCOR Names Kahn Group CFO

Apr 15 2004 // SCOR has appointed Marcel Kahn as group chief financial officer. Kahn spent several years as an external auditor and chartered accountant before joining the AXA group in 1988 as group controller. From 1991 to 2001, he was...

France’s EDF Joins OIL

Feb 6 2004 // Electricité de France (EDF), the government owned-electric utility, has joined the Bermuda-based mutual energy insurance group Oil Insurance Limited (OIL) effective Jan.31, 2004. The EDF, which supplies electricity,...

AXA 2003 Revenues Fall to $89 Billion on Dollar Weakness

Feb 3 2004 // France’s AXA Group reported total revenues for 2003 of 71.628 billion euros ($89.18 billion) compared to 74.727 billion euros ($93 billion) in 2002. The company said the decrease reflected its decision to exit...

RMS Risk Analysis for European Windstorm Losses Covers Electricity Transmission and Distribution

Jan 14 2004 // California-based Risk Management Solutions (RMS), a leading provider of products and services for the management of catastrophe risk, announced that it has performed the risk analysis for the Pylon Ltd. securitization...

148 Die in Red Sea Plane Crash

Jan 5 2004 // A chartered Boeing 737 with 148 people on board crashed into the Red Sea shortly after taking off from the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheik early Saturday morning. There were no survivors. The plane, operated by Egyptian...

Terrorist Threats Disrupt Holiday Flights

Jan 2 2004 // The elevated terrorist threat levels decreed by the Homeland Security Department and the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, coupled with repeated warnings from the FBI, combined to disrupt trans-Atlantic air...

France Agrees to $770 Million Executive Life Settlement; Individuals Excluded

Dec 16 2003 // The French government and Credit Lyonnais (CL) have agreed to accept a settlement in the Executive Life case that will cost $770 million, but the deal excludes individuals named in the criminal case, currently pending in...

SCOR Back on Broker’s Lists; Expects Minimal Impact from Floods

Dec 12 2003 // France’s SCOR Group has issued an announcement indicating that its securities are once again “back on the security lists of the main brokers.” The company also said that the recent flooding in Southern...

France Still Hopeful on Executive Life Settlement

Dec 8 2003 // Despite the apparent deadlock in negotiations, French Finance Minister Francis Mer expressed continued hope that the parties in the Executive Life Affair could still reach an agreement. Interviewed on the radio station...

Floods Cause Death and Disaster in Southern France

Dec 4 2003 // Torrential rains, which have been falling on Southern France for almost a week, have caused heavy flooding in the region, resulting in five reported deaths, bringing road and rail transport to a standstill and halting most...

French Government Gets Another Month to Reach a Settlement in ELIC Case

Nov 17 2003 // Oct. 27 was supposed to be the “day of decision” for the French Government to sign (or not sign) an agreement, reached between the U.S. Attorney General’s (AG) Office in Los Angeles and representatives of...