EU News

Insurers May Open ‘Black Box’ Telematics to Escape Gender Ban

Motor [auto] insurers seeking to get around a European ban on charging male drivers more than women are turning to innovative black box technology that could trigger an upheaval in the way car insurance is sold. Britain’s biggest motor insurer, …

UK Insurance Association: Solvency II May Help or Hinder EU Growth

Amidst all the turmoil in the euro zone, the implementation of the Solvency II regulations, governing the 27 members of the European Union, including the UK, grinds inexorably forward. It is a fact of life for British insurers, and their …

Europe Moves Ahead with Fiscal Union; UK Isolated

Europe divided on Friday in a historic rift over building a fiscal union to preserve the euro, with a large majority of countries led by Germany and France agreeing to move ahead with a separate treaty, leaving Britain isolated. Twenty-three …

IMF Head Warns World Economy Risks a ‘Lost Decade’

The head of the International Monetary Fund warned on Wednesday that Europe’s debt crisis risked plunging the global economy into a “lost decade” and said it was up to rich nations to shoulder the burden of restoring growth and confidence. …

EU Finance Ministers Reaffirm Climate Funding for Developing Countries

EU finance ministers on Tuesday signed off on more than €4 billion ($5.5 billion) in short-term funding to help developing countries adapt to climate change and curb emissions — even as they met to grapple with Europe’s debt crisis. Draft …

EU Says Doha Deal Could Boost World Exports by $505 Billion, If Revived

Moribund talks for a global accord to open up trade could boost world exports by more than half a trillion dollars a year if they were revived and completed, lifting global economic growth by 0.2 percent, an EU report said …

Markets Cheer Euro Deal But Questions Remain

The euro and stocks rallied on Thursday after European leaders struck a deal to provide debt relief for Greece, but analysts warned the plan would fail to halt the euro zone’s two-year-old debt crisis unless crucial details were resolved soon. …

S&P Revises Outlook on AEGON to Stable; Affirms Ratings

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on AEGON N.V. and its operating subsidiaries to stable from negative, and has affirmed the ‘AA-‘ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings on AEGON’s core subsidiaries and the ‘A-/A-2’ …

Bermuda Association Lauds Government Progress on Solvency II ‘Equivalence’

While U.S. regulators are beginning to be worried about the impending imposition of the European Union’s Solvency II regulations for the re/insurance industry, which will come into force in 2014, Bermuda has been working on accommodating its regulations with Solvency …

Sarkozy, Merkel Push Euro Integration; No Joint Bonds

France and Germany unveiled far-reaching plans for closer euro zone integration on Tuesday, but they disappointed investors by declaring that any thoughts of a common euro bond issuance would have to wait. Under heavy pressure to restore confidence in the …