Japan News

Gore Calls on U.S., China to Act on CO2 in Nobel Prize Speech

Nobel Laureate Al Gore accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo Monday night Dec. 10 with a direct appeal to the U.S. and China to take action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, notably CO2. R. K. Pachauri, the Chairman …

Coastal Flood Peril Study: $3 Trillion Today – $35 Trillion by 2070

An exhaustive study of the threat posed by coastal flooding warns that “as many as 150 million people in the world’s major cities could be reliant on flood defenses by 2070 – more than three times the 40 million people …

New Report Reveals Future Exposure to Coastal Flood in Key Cities

As many as 150 million people in the world’s major cities could be reliant on flood defenses by 2070 – more than three times the 40 million people today – as a result of climate change and urban development. This …

Baugh to Replace Glaser at AIG UK; Portalatin, Hernandez Move Up

Following the departure of Daniel Glaser to Head Marsh (See related article), American International Group announced the promotion of three executives in its Foreign General insurance operations. Alexander R. Baugh will succeed Glaser as Managing Director of AIG UK Limited …

S&P: Japan Non-Life Insurers ‘Show Improvement in Profits’

A report from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services concludes that Japan’s top nine non-life insurers recorded ¥173 billion ($1.575 billion) in interim net profits for the first half of fiscal 2007 (ended Sept. 30, 2007), representing a year-on-year increase of …

Ratings Recap: PhilNaRe, Atlas IV Cat Bond, HSBC (Bermuda), Cunningham Lindsey

A.M. Best Co. has assigned a financial strength rating of ‘B++’ (Good) and an issuer credit rating of “bbb” to National Reinsurance Corporation of the Philippines (PhilNaRe) with a stable outlook. “The ratings reflect the company’s adequate risk-adjusted capitalization, established …

Millea Group Ups Profit Forecast; Subprime Exposure $245 Million

Japan’s Millea Group – Tokio Marine, Nichido and Nissin Fire – increased its profit forecasts for the fiscal year ending March 2008 by Yen 7.7 billion ($70 million), despite some exposure to subprime loans (SPL’s). The Group said it’s “risk …

AXA’s 9-Month Results Show Gains

France’s AXA Group’s none month results showed significant gains in all of the diversified giant’s activities, with total revenues for the period of €71.625 billion ($105.12 billion) a 5.9 percent increase over the same period in 2006 on a comparative …

U.S. Employee Sues Japanese Ad Firm Alleging Offensive Sexual Activity

The former creative director of the U.S. arm of Japan’s largest advertising agency sued the company this week, saying he was pressured to visit a brothel and engage in other sexually explicit activities on company outings, then was fired after …

EQECAT Study Warns of Quake Threat to Japanese Industries

According to a new study to be issued by ABSG Consulting Inc. and its subsidiary, EQECAT, Inc., “Japan’s chemical industry surprisingly could suffer financial losses equal to more than two years of pre-tax earnings, while the precision machinery and petroleum …