“The European debt crisis is affecting the global economy, definitely,” said Kurt Karl, Swiss Re’s chief economist in an interview at the recent Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo. He did indicate that it’s affecting the U.S. a bit less, as …
Swiss Re’s sigma report analyzing the effect on the insurance industry of the continuing low interest rates doesn’t paint a pretty picture. They have been at historic lows for several years. For instance the nominal yield on a 10-year U.S. …
For once there’s no natural catastrophe hanging over the annual Reinsurance Rendezvous in Monte Carlo (the 56th edition). Tropical storm Leslie missed Bermuda and Hurricane Michael is safely out in the Atlantic. But that doesn’t mean there are few concerns …
Europe’s biggest insurer, Allianz SE, is worried about the role central banks may have played in an interest rate rigging scandal that has enveloped some leading international lenders, the insurer’s chief financial officer said on Friday. “We do not find …
The scope of the investigations that are unfolding in the wake of the charges against Barclay’s Bank that it rigged the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) have taken on the proportions of a major catastrophe. “17 of the 24 largest …
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi pledged on Thursday to do whatever was necessary to protect the euro zone from collapse, sending a strong signal that inflated Spanish and Italian borrowing costs were in his sights. Fears about the euro …
All of Europe’s biggest economies are in recession or heading there and there is little sign things will improve soon, surveys showed on Wednesday, backing a growing view that the region’s major central banks are poised to ease policy this …
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 …
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 …
Swiss Re’s Chief Economist, Kurt Karl, has predicted that the decision by the Federal Reserve to maintain the target fed funds rate at zero to 25 basis points would help calm some of the turmoil in the global financial markets. …
