Articles by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi

Pandemic Risks to Last for Months, Warns Swiss Financial Market Supervisor

Financial risks related to the coronavirus pandemic will last for months if not years, Switzerland’s financial market supervisor FINMA said on Wednesday, pointing to particularly heightened risk of defaults on corporate loans. “Thanks to the cushion of liquidity and capital …

Facebook Revamps Its Libra Cryptocurrency in Response to Regulatory Backlash

Facebook’s planned cryptocurrency Libra will be linked to individual national currencies and overseen by global watchdogs in a scaled-back revamp it hopes will win regulatory approval. The prospect of Facebook’s 2.5 billion users adopting Libra has led to intense scrutiny …

Swiss Re Postpones $4B ReAssure IPO, Citing Weak Investor Demand

Reinsurance group Swiss Re suspended plans for a $4.1 billion initial public offering of British life insurer ReAssure on the day it was set to start trading in London, citing weak demand from institutional investors. The cancellation comes as global …

U.S. Court Clears Swiss Bank UBS in Whistleblower’s $20 Million Libel Suit

A New York appeals court has dismissed a U.S. whistleblower’s $20 million libel suit against Swiss bank UBS, his former employer, concluding that statements the Zurich-based bank made about him were at least “substantially true.” Court documents dated May 21 …

Zurich Insurance Reports 2% Hike in 9-Month P/C Premiums, Confirms Targets

Zurich Insurance posted a 2 percent rise in nine-month property and casualty premiums and confirmed its financial targets on Thursday despite a hit from larger-than-expected natural catastrophe losses. “We are pleased with the development of our businesses over the first …

Japan’s SoftBank in Talks to Buy Stake in Swiss Re

Swiss Re said it is in preliminary talks to sell a minority stake to SoftBank Group – a deal that reportedly could be worth $10 billion or more, in what would be the Japanese firm’s biggest financial services deal to …

Swiss Re Posts $468M 9-Month Loss, Anticipates Re/Insurance Rate Hikes

A rise in insurance premiums, especially in areas affected by recent hurricanes and disasters, will help Swiss Re recover from almost half a billion dollars of losses in the first nine months of this year, it said on Thursday. “We …

Zurich Insurance Deploys Robots for Personal Injury Claims Handling

Zurich Insurance is deploying artificial intelligence in deciding personal injury claims after trials cut the processing time from an hour to just seconds, its chairman said. “We recently introduced AI claims handling … and saved 40,000 work hours, while speeding …

Demand Rises for Political Risk Cover as Buyers Think the Unthinkable

Rocked by a shakeup in the Western political order, companies are buying more insurance to protect themselves against the threat of rising protectionism and upheaval to their operations in emerging markets. Insurers say demand is being driven by uncertainty over …

Insurers to Pay an Estimated $1.3B for Cyclone Debbie: Swiss Re

Cyclone Debbie cost Swiss Re an estimated $350 million and the insurance industry roughly $1.3 billion, the world’s second-biggest reinsurer said on Thursday, an unusually high loss that could see reinsurance prices rise in Australia. Cyclone Debbie, a Category 4 …