Latest S&P Headlines
All the headlines from our S&P Topic Page, ordered by recency.
One Catastrophe Won’t Scare Away Alternative Capital: S&P Panelists
Jun 9 2014 // Catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities (ILS) issuance have surged to record levels this year thanks to the continuing influx of alternative capital into the reinsurance market, leaving credit analysts and...
S&P Panel Urges Insurers to Seek Better Returns Globally
Jun 9 2014 // “Continuing low interest rates and soft economic growth are contributing to a tough investment climate for insurance companies, but they’re still finding opportunities for a decent return if they’re...
S&P Loses Bid to Keep 16 States’ Lawsuits Over Ratings in Federal Court
Jun 5 2014 // Standard & Poor’s suffered a defeat on Tuesday in litigation accusing it of issuing misleading credit ratings prior to the 2008 financial crisis, as a federal judge ruled that lawsuits by 16 U.S. states and...
S&P Report Finds Companies Are Starting To Assess Climate Risks
May 22 2014 // A report – “Dealing With Disaster: How Companies Are Starting To Assess Their Climate Event Risks” – from Standard & Poor’s London office points out that the “increasing frequency of...
S&P Report Concludes Re/Insurers Have ‘Coped Well So Far’ with Climate Change
May 20 2014 // A report – “Are Insurers Prepared For The Extreme Weather Climate Change May Bring?” – from Standard & Poor’s notes that “whether or not a direct result of climate change, the number...
Are Bermuda’s Re/Insurers ‘Victims of Their Own Success?’ S&P Report
Apr 30 2014 // Bermuda’s re/insurers “reaped strong earnings in 2013 despite increasing competition, persistently low investment yields, and a tepid economic recovery in the U.S. and Europe,” according to a Standard...
Why Agencies Need to Pay More Attention to Insurer Insolvency
Apr 10 2014 // A myth is sneaking into the industry that insurer insolvency is not as important today. Belief in this myth is important to many entities. To put it more simply, a number of companies, agencies, and other firms benefit if...
S&P Revises Outlook on CGSC to Negative; CEO Comments
Apr 2 2014 // Standard & Poor’s Rating Services announced on April 1, 2014 that it has affirmed its ‘B’ rating for Cooper Gay Swett & Crawford Ltd., but has revised its outlook on the rating to negative from...
RSA Upgraded by S&P on Planned Share Sale, Buffett Risk Transfer
Mar 3 2014 // RSA Insurance Group Plc was upgraded by Standard & Poor’s after Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester announced a stock sale and a deal to transfer risk to Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The...
Why Agencies Need to Pay More Attention to Insurer Insolvency
Feb 10 2014 // A myth is sneaking into the industry that insurer insolvency is not as important today. Belief in this myth is important to many entities. A number of companies, agencies and other firms benefit if less attention is paid...
S&P Reinsurer Ratings Downgrades ‘Very Controversial’ – Litmus Analysis
Jan 23 2014 // London-based Litmus Analysis has commented on the announcement from S&P that for the first time since 2006 it expects a negative trend in reinsurer ratings in 2014. Of the 23 groups (including Lloyd’s) it defines...
S&P Reinsurance Report Warns of ‘Negative Rating Actions’
Jan 22 2014 // Standard & Poor’s latest report – “Past The Tipping Point: Competition And Soft Pricing Could Lead To Rating Pressure For Global Reinsurers” – on the state of the global reinsurance sector,...
Standard & Poor’s Report Reviews Global Insurance Ratings
Dec 20 2013 // A report from S&P’s rating services notes that “after revising its insurance criteria earlier this year”, the rating agency “affirmed more than 91 percent of its global ratings, raised 7...
RSA’s S&P Rating Remains Seriously at Risk Even after Second Downgrade
Dec 18 2013 // An analysis from Stuart Shipperlee, Analytical Partner at Litmus Analysis, notes that following S&P’s initial downgrade last month, “RSA faced a further risk to its rating without fresh equity. This...
QBE Bond Risk Surges as U.S. Expansion Sours: Australia Credit Risk
Dec 13 2013 // Bond risk on QBE Insurance Group Ltd. halved in the first 11 months of the year before surging this month as the company said it would lose money. Credit-default swaps on QBE have climbed 41 basis points since Nov. 30 to...
Banks Facing $100B More in Costs to Settle Mortgage-Related Cases: S&P
Nov 27 2013 // The largest U.S. banks may need to pay out up to an additional $105 billion to settle legacy mortgage-related issues, but have a capital cushion that would help them absorb these losses, according to a report by ratings...
New Global Ratings Agency to Vie with Moody’s, S&P, Fitch
Nov 13 2013 // Credit ratings organisations from five countries are launching a new global agency, touting it as an alternative to the Big Three agencies which they say no longer meet the needs of the new globalised world. In a statement...
Dodd-Frank Swaps Rule Could Impact Insurers’ Risk Management, Ratings: S&P
Nov 11 2013 // Ratings analysts at Standard & Poor’s say that a Dodd-Frank provision having to do with derivatives could improve insurers’ risk management and have a minor impact on ratings. In response to the financial...
S&P Report Says Global Multiline Insurers in Good Shape
Sep 17 2013 // A report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services says that overall, “it considers global multiline insurers (GMIs) to still display better credit quality than other insurance groups or...
S&P Says Federal $5B Fraud Lawsuit ‘Retaliation’ for U.S. Downgrade
Sep 4 2013 // Standard & Poor’s said on Tuesday the U.S. government filed a $5 billion fraud lawsuit against it in “retaliation” for its 2011 decision to strip the country of its “AAA” credit...
