Latest Japan Headlines
All the headlines from our Japan Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Survey: Commercial Lines Prices Fall 3% in Q1
May 4 2011 // Commercial property/casualty pricing declined again with an average decline 3 percent in the first quarter of 2011. But according to a new industry survey, the pace of pricing declines may be slowing down. The market...
Japan’s Edano: No limit on Tepco Nuclear Compensation Claims
May 2 2011 // Japan’s government will not put a cap on the liabilities faced by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) for damages stemming from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said...
Japan Quake Reveals Cracks in Insurance System
May 2 2011 // Michael Korn, managing principal at Integro Insurance Brokers, is a popular person these days, which is perhaps not too surprising considering he is an insurance broker in earthquake-prone San Francisco. “We’re...
A Third of Large U.S. Firms Show Business Interruption From Japan Disaster
Apr 29 2011 // More than a quarter of large U.S. based businesses are experiencing disruptions to their supply chains or contingent business interruptions as a result of the March earthquake in Japan, says a new report. A new Greenwich...
Asbestos: Japan Tsunami’s other Hidden Danger
Apr 28 2011 // Inside the chunks of slate and wallboard smashed and scattered by Japan’s tsunami hides a health risk that has been overshadowed by contamination from a leaking nuclear plant: the odorless and nearly invisible threat...
Marsh Agrees: Soft Pricing Persisted Despite Catastrophe Losses in Q1
Apr 27 2011 // Catastrophe losses approached record levels in the first quarter but despite this commercial property/casualty insurance rate increases were confined to loss-affected exposures. In regions and for classes of business not...
Five Japan Life Insurers Eye Unhedged Foreign Bonds; See Weaker Yen
Apr 27 2011 // Five Japanese life insurers say they may buy more unhedged foreign bonds, believing that the yen is likely to weaken and that the currency risks are low enough for them not to take on higher hedging costs, a stance that...
S&P: Japan’s Rating Outlook Now Negative on Quake Costs; Affirms Debt Ratings
Apr 27 2011 // Standard and Poor’s threatened to cut Japan’s sovereign credit rating again, warning the huge cost of last month’s devastating earthquake will hurt already weak public finances unless bickering...
Global Reinsurers at ‘Critical’ Point, Says Best’s Report
Apr 26 2011 // A new special report, compiled by A.M. Best, concludes that the string of major catastrophes, a persistent soft market and the near exhaustion of excess reserves have placed global reinsurers at a “critical”...
Japan to Launch Massive Search for Quake Victims Bodies
Apr 25 2011 // Japan will send nearly 25,000 soldiers backed by boats and aircraft into its disaster zone Monday on an intensive land-and-sea mission to recover the bodies of those killed by last month’s earthquake and tsunami, the...
Beazley Remains Confident, Despite Q1 Catastrophes
Apr 25 2011 // The first quarter of 2011 reminded the insurance industry of just how unpredictable natural catastrophes can be. Beazley plc, which is headquartered in Dublin, but whose main activities, are in the Lloyd’s market,...
Munich Re Ups Dividend, Comments on Impact of 2011 Disasters
Apr 21 2011 // Munich Re’s annual general meeting (AGM) produced some good news for the shareholders of the world’s largest reinsurer. It announced a dividend increase to €6.25 [$9.138] per share for the financial year...
Catlin Estimates Japanese Earthquake/Tsunami Losses at $200 Million
Apr 20 2011 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group Limited announced that its initial estimate of the financial impact of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated areas of northeast Japan, are expected to be around $200 million,...
Summary of Re/Insurers’ Loss Estimates from Japan’s Earthquake, Tsunami
Apr 19 2011 // Some of the world’s leading insurers and reinsurers have issued initial estimates of how much the earthquake that hit Japan on March 11 will cost them and more are expected do so over the next few weeks. Risk...
Japan’s Meiji Life Says Confidence in U.S. Bonds ‘Unshaken’
Apr 19 2011 // Japan’s Meiji Yasuda Life plans to increase its investment in foreign bonds, focusing on dollar debt, with its confidence in U.S. Treasuries unshaken by the threat of a credit downgrade, a top executive said on...
Japan’s Tragedy a Reminder of Need for Business Interruption Insurance
Apr 18 2011 // The human, social and economic devastation in Japan from the massive earthquake and tsunami is overwhelming and business losses are just beginning to be tallied. Companies in the United States that purchase products or...
Reinsurance Rates Up, But Few Agree How Much
Apr 18 2011 // Reinsurance rates may be edging higher only now, but the companies’ shares could still surge amid investor hopes that disasters, including Japan’s earthquake, will result in much higher rates in the...
Japan Plans State-Backed Insurer to Save TEPCO
Apr 15 2011 // Japan plans to set up a government-backed insurance fund to put money into Tokyo Electric Power and pay compensation stemming from the disaster at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the Nikkei newspaper said. Aimed at...
Japan Businesses Demand Compensation for Nuclear Evacutaion
Apr 14 2011 // Small business owners and laborers forced to leave their homes and jobs because of radiation leaking from Japan’s tsunami-flooded nuclear plant rode a bus all the way to Tokyo on Wednesday to demand compensation from...
Global Nuclear Forum Backs Safety Push
Apr 14 2011 // A 72-nation nuclear forum said on Thursday it backed a U.N.-led campaign to strengthen atomic safety in the light of Japan’s crisis and promised to carry out prompt steps as a result. Japan’s month-long...
