Italy News

Costa Concordia Salvage to Begin in May

The salvage operation to move the capsized Costa Concordia away from the island of Giglio, where it ran aground three months ago, will begin next month, an official said on Thursday. Civil Protection official Fabrizio Curcio told reporters at a …

OECD Says Euro Zone Public Debt Crisis Far from Over

The euro zone’s public debt crisis is not over despite calmer financial markets this year, the OECD said on Tuesday, with a warning that the bloc’s banks remain weak, debt levels are still rising and fiscal targets are far from …

Bondholder Group Sees Over $131.8 Trillion Greek Default Risk

A disorderly Greek default would probably leave Italy and Spain needing outside help to stop contagion spreading and cause more than €1 trillion ($1.318 trillion) of damage to the euro zone, the group representing Athens’ bondholders warned. Greek private creditors …

Fondiaria Battle Heats up as Funds Table Offer; AXA Interested

The battle for control of Italian insurer Fondiaria-SAI heated up on Wednesday when two private equity funds tabled a rival offer to one brokered by top investment bank Mediobanca to rescue the troubled insurer by merging it with peer Unipol. …

Lawyer Says Cruise Lawsuits Will Force Insurers to Demand Higher Standards

Insurers stung by multi-million dollar claims over the Concordia shipwreck will demand higher safety standards from the cruise industry, a lawyer who will file suits this month against Carnival Corp for more than 70 plaintiffs said on Thursday. “There are …

Carnival Will Review Safety, Emergency Response Systems

Carnival Corp, whose luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy last week, said on Thursday it will conduct an audit and review of safety and emergency response procedures at all of its cruise lines. Carnival Chief …

Willis Group Acquires Italian Broker

Willis Italy, a unit of Willis Group Holdings, announced the acquisition of Broking Italia SRL, a long-established specialist in the Italian insurance market, founded and currently headed by Gianfranco Agostini and Daniela Andreussi. Terms of the transaction were not announced. …

S&P Puts Allianz, Aviva, AXA, Generali, Mapfre Units, 10 Other EU Insurers on CreditWatch/Negative

Standard & Poor’s Ratings announced that it has placed its ratings on the following insurers (and certain related operating subsidiaries and certain holding companies) on CreditWatch with negative implications: • Allianz Group (including the Euler Hermes group) • Aviva Group …

Best Places Generali, Main Subsidiaries’ Ratings under Review/Negative

A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has taken action in the wake if the Italian financial crisis by placing the financial strength rating of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit rating of “aa-” of Assicurazioni Generali S.p.A. and its main …

AmTrust Europe to Open Branch in Italy

UK-based insurer AmTrust Europe, Ltd., a FSA [Financial Services Authority] authorized insurance company, which already has had operations in Italy “under freedom of services (LPS) for a number of years,” announced that it “has been given the green light from …