Latest Italy Headlines
All the headlines from our Italy Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Magnitude 6.0 Earthquake Strikes Italy’s Emilia Romagna Region: AIR Analysis
May 21 2012 // AIR Worldwide has released its preliminary analysis of the earthquake which struck the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy in the early hours on Sunday, May 20. The US Geological Survey issued a “moment magnitude...
Fondiaria Battle Heats up as Funds Table Offer; AXA Interested
Feb 23 2012 // The battle for control of Italian insurer Fondiaria-SAI heated up on Wednesday when two private equity funds tabled a rival offer to one brokered by top investment bank Mediobanca to rescue the troubled insurer by merging...
Cruise Ship Industry Leaves Crash Victims Little Hope for Recovery
Feb 21 2012 // When Walter Henry Alderfer learned last month about the Costa Concordia shipwreck off Italy, it brought back bad memories. In April 2007, he, his wife and his daughter were aboard the Sea Diamond cruise ship when it struck...
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...
More Shipwreck Survivors File Lawsuits against Carnival, Costa Cruises
Feb 14 2012 // Dozens of additional survivors of the Costa Concordia shipwreck off Italy have joined a Florida lawsuit that accuses the ship’s owners of gross negligence and fraud, and asks for at least $528 million in damages. An...
Italian Court Sentences Businessmen to Jail in Asbestos Case
Feb 13 2012 // A billionaire Swiss industrialist and a Belgian executive were sentenced to 16 years in jail on Monday by an Italian court and ordered to pay millions of euros in damages for negligence that led to more than 2,000...
Lawyer Says Cruise Lawsuits Will Force Insurers to Demand Higher Standards
Feb 9 2012 // Insurers stung by multi-million dollar claims over the Concordia shipwreck will demand higher safety standards from the cruise industry, a lawyer who will file suits this month against Carnival Corp for more than 70...
Lawyers Jump Into Cruise Ship Disaster Cases
Jan 30 2012 // Soon after Mitchell Proner, a New York personal-injury lawyer, heard about the capsizing of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy, he sprang into action. Proner, who specializes in motorcycle-accident lawsuits, has...
Costa Cruises Offers Settlements to Passengers
Jan 27 2012 // Costa Cruises has offered to pay 11,000 euros ($14,500) in compensation to each of the more than 3,000 passengers aboard the ship that capsized near the island of Giglio two weeks ago, Italian consumer groups said on...
Ship Disaster Unlikely to Prompt Quick Safety Changes
Jan 19 2012 // The cruise ship disaster off Italy’s coast is drawing fresh scrutiny to the gaps in international safety rules and standards – yet there may be little appetite among the world’s major shipping nations and...
New Yorkers Recovering From Italy Ship Ordeal
Jan 18 2012 // Four New Yorkers are safe following their evacuation from the cruise ship that ran aground in Italy. Joan, Brian and Alana Aho of Duanesburg, N.Y., made it off the ship during last Friday’s emergency. But they told a...
Report Says Mafia Now ‘Italy’s No.1 Bank’ as Economic Crisis Bites
Jan 11 2012 // Organized crime has tightened its grip on the Italian economy during the economic crisis, making the Mafia the country’s biggest “bank” and squeezing the life out of thousands of small firms, according to...
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...
Ratings Roundup: Heritage, Euler Hermes (US)
Dec 22 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a” of Calif.-based Heritage Indemnity Company, both with stable outlooks. The ratings of...
Best’s Rating Actions Spurred by EU Failure to Produce Debt Crisis Solution
Dec 21 2011 // Although the recent summit of the 27 countries of the European Union did manage to come up with a plan to control budget deficits – in the future – it “took no clear short term actions to address the debt...
Best Affirms FSR’s; Downgrades ICR’s of Allianz U.S. Units; Ratings on Review/Negative
Dec 20 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A+’ (Superior) and downgraded the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to “aa-” from “aa” of Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty...
Best Puts Fireman’s Fund Companies on Review/Negative; Affirms Ratings
Dec 20 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has placed under review with negative implications and has also affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a+” of...
Best Affirms Aviva’s Ratings; Places them on Review/Negative
Dec 16 2011 // Following its announcements, made earlier this week, A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited is continuing to take rating actions on a number of European (re)insurers, as a result of the continued negative...
Best Downgrades Generali, Main Subs Ratings; Keeps on Review/Negative
Dec 15 2011 // As a result of the continued negative developments regarding the euro zone sovereign debt crisis, A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has downgraded the financial strength rating (FSR) to ‘A’...
Best Downgrades Allianz and Subs Issuer Credit Ratings; Affirms FSR
Dec 15 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has reacted to the ongoing sovereign debt crisis in the euro zone, which it describes as “continued negative developments” with a number of rating actions, starting...
