International & Reinsurance News

Lebanon Spy Agency Turns Smartphones into Spycams in 21 Countries: Researchers

Lebanon’s intelligence service may have turned the smartphones of thousands of targeted individuals into cyber-spying machines in one of the first known examples of large-scale state hacking of phones rather than computers, researchers say. Lebanon’s General Directorate of General Security …

AIG Taps Barron from PwC as Head of International Government Affairs

American International Group (AIG) announced that Ed Barron will join the company as head of International Government Affairs, effective March 2018. In this new role, Barron will be responsible for developing a cohesive, global perspective and engagement strategy for legislative …

RenaissanceRe to Buy Minority Stake in Run-Off Firm Catalina Holdings

RenaissanceRe will pick up a minority stake in Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd., a long-term manager of legacy runoff P/C insurance and reinsurance businesses. Neither side is disclosing financial terms. RenaissanceRe will pursue the investment through its subsidiary RenaissanceRe Ventures Ltd. …

Microinsurer BIMA Aims to Close Developing Nations’ Protection Gap with Life & Health Cover

The insurance protection gap in developing nations is being filled by a growing group of microinsurers, which provide coverage that ranges from life and health insurance, to crop insurance, to property protection after natural disasters. It is all aimed to …

Oil from Sunken Iran Tanker Diffuses into 4 Separate Slicks

Oil from an Iranian tanker that sank in the East China Sea has diffused into four separate slicks, covering a combined area of just over 100 square kms (39 square miles), Chinese authorites said late on Wednesday. Earlier satellite imaging …

Silent Cyber Included in Willis Re’s Cyber Risk Portfolio Modeling Tool PRISM-Re

Willis Re, the reinsurance business of Willis Towers Watson, the global advisory and broking company, has upgraded its cyber risk portfolio modeling tool PRISM-ReTM to include “silent cyber.” Willis Re defines “silent cyber” as potential cyber-related losses resulting from insurance …

Business, Political Leaders List Cyber Attacks, Geopolitical Tensions as Top Concerns: WEF Survey

The threat of large-scale cyber attacks and a “deteriorating geopolitical landscape” since the election of U.S. President Donald Trump have jumped to the top of the global elite’s list of concerns, the World Economic Forum said ahead of its annual …

S. Africa Mobile Phone Firm Cell C Seeks M&A to Expand into Insurance

Cell C Pty Ltd. is seeking acquisitions that will help transform South Africa’s third-biggest mobile-phone company into a full-service telecommunications provider offering internet and financial services as well as traditional calls and texts. The wireless carrier is working on two …

Aon Benfield’s Christian Named Chair of ClimateWise, Raising Climate Risk Resilience

Dominic Christian, executive chairman of Aon Benfield International, has been appointed chair of ClimateWise, an organization that aims to help the insurance industry respond to the risks and opportunities of the climate-risk protection gap – the growing divide between total …

Industry Needs to Join Insurtech Wave to Digitize Insurance: AFL’s Esser

There is a fundamental need for reform and modernization, particularly in the London market. We should be electronically processing all lines of business, not just specialty classes. Of course, we should look at ubiquitous electronic placement too. So what can …

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