June 27, 2012
A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has commented that the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a” of MAPFRE RE, Compania de Reaseguros, S.A. are unchanged following the recent market volatility surrounding …
June 26, 2012
As Europe considers a leap towards closer integration to try to save the euro single currency, it resembles the biblical Tower of Babel – unable to complete an ambitious project because the residents don’t speak the same political and economic …
June 22, 2012
The leaders of Germany, France, Italy and Spain agreed on Friday on a €130 billion ($163 billion) package to try to revive economic growth in Europe but differed over whether and how to launch joint bonds to combat the euro …
June 22, 2012
On the heels of the decision by the U.S. Federal Reserve to maintain the target fed funds rate at zero to 25 basis points Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, Kurt Karl, commented: “The US economy has been weak recently, but is …
June 20, 2012
Europe won support from world leaders on Tuesday for an ambitious, but slow-moving, overhaul of the euro zone, even as pressure built in financial markets for quicker solutions to its debt crisis that threatens the world economy. European countries showed …
June 19, 2012
Greece’s election has averted the immediate threat of a euro break-up, but it does nothing to restore the magic ingredient missing in the European and global economies – confidence. Investors and corporate executives are paid to calculate risk. But they …
June 15, 2012
Authorities in the world’s major economies are preparing for a possible market storm or public panic after cliffhanger Greek elections this weekend, officials said on Thursday, should radical leftists win and cast doubt on the nation’s future in the euro …
June 15, 2012
The Lloyds’s Market Association (LMA) has joined central banks and other financial instiutions in preparing for a possible euro zone exit. It has issued a “note” giving insurers and brokers guidance on what they should be prepared to do in …
June 14, 2012
Chancellor Angela Merkel rebuffed pressure on Thursday for Germany, Europe’s most powerful economy, to underwrite debt or guarantee bank deposits in the euro zone, as Spain’s soaring borrowing costs raised new alarm. Spain’s 10-year bond yield hit a euro lifetime …
June 12, 2012
Tightening fiscal integration in the euro zone and surrendering more sovereignty in the name of deeper cooperation between member states may be possible only in the medium term, the EU’s top economic official said on Monday, dampening expectations of a …