Latest Japan Headlines

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

Lloyd’s ‘Confident’ It Can Cope with Japan Claims

Mar 30 2011 // The Lloyd’s of London insurance market is confident it can deal easily with claims from Japan’s earthquake even though natural disasters almost halved its profit last year. Lloyd’s said its businesses had...

Cat Bond Investors Braced for Japan Disaster Hit

Mar 30 2011 // The Japanese earthquake is set to be the first natural disaster that triggers a number of catastrophe bonds, surpassing Hurricane Katrina to become the event with the biggest impact on the alternative reinsurance...

S&P Puts Montana Re Cat Bonds on CreditWatch Negative after Japan Quake

Mar 28 2011 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has placed its ‘B- (sf)’ rating on Montana Re Ltd.’s Class E notes on CreditWatch with negative implications. The notes, totaling $210 million, were originally...

Japan Reinsurance Prices Should Rise 50%: Analyst

Mar 28 2011 // Risk modeling company AIR Worldwide tightened its estimate for insured losses from the Japan earthquake and tsunami, as one analyst said reinsurers did not appear to be raising rates fast enough to compensate for the March...

New Jersey, Home to Oldest U.S. Nuke Plant, Reviewing Safety

Mar 28 2011 // New Jersey, the most densely populated state and home to the nation’s oldest nuclear power plant, created a task force Friday to review safety and emergency response plans at nuclear plants in light of the disaster...

Chartis Receives High Response for Fuji Fire Share Offer

Mar 28 2011 // Chartis, the general insurance subsidiary of American International Group, has announced the results of its cash tender offer by its wholly owned subsidiary, Chartis Japan Capital Company, LLC, for all of the outstanding...

AIR Worldwide Estimates Japan Insured Losses up to $30 Billion

Mar 25 2011 // Risk modeling company AIR Worldwide tightened its estimate for insured losses from the Japan earthquake and tsunami, forecasting the insurance industry will have to pay out $20 billion to $30 billion in claims. That...

S&P: Outlook Negative on 9 Japanese P/C Insurers; Ratings Affirmed

Mar 25 2011 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has conducted a detailed analysis of 15 Japanese P/C insurers, and has made several adjustments in its ratings following the earthquake and tsunami, which hit the country on...

AIG Expects ‘Minimal’ Effects from Japan Claims

Mar 24 2011 // American International Group Inc. said Wednesday it expects “minimal net effects” from the recent earthquake and tsunami on the financial condition of its local Japanese operations, including those of Fuji Fire...

Nuclear Agency to Conduct Safety Check of U.S. Plants

Mar 24 2011 // The top U.S. nuclear regulator Wednesday approved the launch of a safety review of U.S. nuclear reactors sought by President Barack Obama in response to the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima plant. The Nuclear...

Insurer Shares Relatively Unaffected by Japan Damage Estimates

Mar 23 2011 // Insurer shares largely shrugged off the industry’s first round of damage estimates from this month’s earthquake in Japan, which may prove to be the world’s costliest disaster. Munich Re and Hannover Re,...

Munich Re Estimates Japan Quake, Tsunami Claims over $2 Billion

Mar 23 2011 // Munich Re announced that it has estimated its claims burden from the earthquake and tsunami in Japan at around €1.5 billion [$2.128 billion], after retrocession and before tax. As a result Munich Re said its...

Hannover Re Estimates Japan Quake, Tsunami Losses at $355 Million

Mar 23 2011 // Hannover Re announced that, “based on its analysis of individual treaties,” its loss expenditure from the Japan earthquake is expected to be around €250 million [$355 million] after retrocessions and before...

Japan Govt. Estimates Quake, Tsunami Damages at $185 to $308 Billion

Mar 23 2011 // The Japanese government on Wednesday estimated the direct damage from a deadly earthquake and tsunami that struck the country’s northeast this month at 16-25 trillion yen ($185-$308 billion), making it the...

Platinum Estimates NZ Quake, Aus. Flood Losses at $160 Million; Assessing Japan

Mar 23 2011 // Bermuda-based Platinum Underwriters Holdings has announced that it currently expects the 2011 Australian floods and Cyclone Yasi and the 2011 New Zealand earthquake will “have a net negative impact of approximately...

Japan Disaster Shows up Flaws in ‘Just-in-time’ Production

Mar 22 2011 // Just over a week after the massive earthquake hit the sprawling Texas Instruments chip plant here, a gardener is reworking the Japanese garden in an inner courtyard of the office tower attached to the plant. The garden is...

U.S. Nuclear Plants to Undergo Safety Reviews

Mar 21 2011 // The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will conduct a “comprehensive review” of the safety of all U.S. nuclear plants following what U.S. officials are calling the dangerous and complicated situation at...

S&P Says Rating Actions on Japan Insurers Unlikely

Mar 21 2011 // Standard & Poor’s Tokyo office has issued a comment noting that by some estimates the total damages from the March 11 Japanese earthquake and the fires and tsunami that followed “could hit at least $100...

Swiss Re Estimates Japan Earthquake, Tsunami Claims at $1.2 Billion

Mar 21 2011 // Swiss Re has released a preliminary estimate of its claims costs, net of retrocession and before tax, from the earthquake and the tsunami in Japan of $1.2 billion. The reinsurer cautioned that these “estimates are...

Western U.S. Tsunami Damage Exceeds $50 Million

Mar 21 2011 // Tsunami waves following Japan’s massive earthquake are estimated to have caused more than $50 million in damage in the Western United States, according to local officials. In Hawaii, Gov. Neil Abercrombie issued an...