Latest France Headlines

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

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

Nov 3 2003 // Oct. 27 was supposed to be the “day of decision” for the French Government to sign (or not sign) the agreement, reached between the U.S. Attorney General’s (AG) Office in Los Angeles and representatives...

FERMA Conference Highlights Risk Management Concerns

Nov 3 2003 // The second ever bi-annual conference of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA), held Oct. 5 – 8 in Rome, Italy, featured presenters and workshops that highlighted both the similarities and...

FERMA Conference Highlights Risk Management Concerns

Nov 3 2003 // The second ever bi-annual conference of the Federation of European Risk Management Associations (FERMA), held Oct. 5 – 8 in Rome, Italy, featured presenters and workshops that highlighted both the similarities and...

French Government Obtains One Month Delay in ELIC Case

Oct 27 2003 // If anyone still harbored any doubts that the U.S. Attorney’s case against Credit Lyonnais (CL) and others involved in the takeover of Executive Life Insurance Corp. (ELIC) is highly politicized, they were dispelled...

France Blocks Executive Life Settlement

Oct 16 2003 // Despite the strong statements from Congressman Doug Ose (See related article in today’s West section), the French government has rejected the settlement agreement in the Executive Life case against Credit Lyonnais...

AEMI Appoints French as London Branch Manager

Oct 9 2003 // ACE European Markets Insurance Limited (AEMI) announced the appointment of Stephen French to the position of branch manager of its London office. French will also retain his current responsibilities as property...

France Refuses U.S. Extradition Request in Executive Life Case

Oct 9 2003 // France’s ministry of Justice has rejected a request from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in L.A. to extradite four French businessmen, who have been charged with participating in Credit Lyonnais’ (CL) takeover...

$585 Million Settlement at Hand in Credit Lyonnais/ELIC Fraud Case

Sep 22 2003 // Nothing apparently concentrates the corporate mind so effectively as being named in a criminal complaint. A week after a federal grand jury in Los Angeles issued a sealed indictment which reportedly accused it, and...

$585 Million Settlement at Hand in Credit Lyonnais/ELIC Fraud Case

Sep 22 2003 // Nothing apparently concentrates the corporate mind so effectively as being named in a criminal complaint. A week after a federal grand jury in Los Angeles issued a sealed indictment which reportedly accused it, and...

Zurich to Sell Most French Business to Generali

Sep 8 2003 // Zurich Financial Services announced that it has agreed to sell its French life business, including its Eagle Star operations and parts of its non-life operations in the consumer and commercial segments, distributed by...

Credit Lyonnais, French Gov’t. Agree to $575M Settlement in Executive Life Case

Sep 4 2003 // France’s Credit Lyonnais (CL) and the Consortium de Réalisation (CDR), a French government agency established to handle the bank’s debt mountain in 1995, have agreed with federal prosecutors in Los Angeles to...

Best Affirms ‘A’ Rating of France’s Caisse Centrale de Reassurance

Jun 24 2003 // A.M. Best Co. announced that it has affirmed the ‘A’ (Excellent) financial strength rating of Caisse Centrale de Reassurance (CCR), a Paris based reinsurer, with a “positive” outlook. “The...

S&P Report Finds French Market is ‘Stable’

Jun 18 2003 // A report on the French insurance market released by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services calls the outlook in both the life and P/C sectors “stable.” S&P had previously classed the P/C...

Report Generali Seeking French Insurer

Jun 17 2003 // According to newspaper reports Italy’s Generali may soon make a 300 million euro ($355.5 million) bid for French insurer Le Continent in a bid to increase its share of the French market. It considers the country a...

AXA’s Gerard de La Martiniere to Head French Insurance Organization; Denis Duverne Elected to Board

May 14 2003 // Gerard de La Martiniere, the member of AXA’s Management Board in charge of Finance, Control and Strategy has been elected Chairman of the French Federation of Insurance Companies (F.F.S.A.), effective immediately,...

SCOR Posts $496 Million* Loss for 2002

Apr 1 2003 // France’s Scor Group, the world’s seventh largest reinsurer, registered a net loss of 455 million Euros ($496 million) for the year 2002; 55 million Euros ($60 million) more than it had said it expected in...

SCOR Sets Agenda for “Back on Track” Plan; May Sell Bermuda Operation

Jan 23 2003 // Denis Kessler, who recently took over as the head of France’s SCOR Group, revealed additional measures to implement his “Back on track Plan” for the company at yesterday’s Board of Directors...

Warnings Abound as Winter Hits Europe

Jan 6 2003 // Blizzards in France, floods in the U.K. and Germany, avalanches in the Alps – winter hit Europe particularly hard over the weekend. An unusually heavy snowfall in Northern France shut down the country’s main...

A.M. Best Affirms Ratings of AGF, Groupama

Dec 24 2002 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed its “Superior” ratings on two of France’s largest general insurers. Yesterday it confirmed the A++ (Superior) rating of Assurances Generales de France (AGF), but kept it under...

BNP Buys French Gov’t. Share of Credit Lyonnais for $2.2 Billion

Nov 25 2002 // France’s second largest bank, BNP Paribas, emerged as the winner of a surprise auction by the French government for its 10.9 percent share in Credit Lyonnais (CL), France’s fifth largest bank. Following a...