Potential Chinese moves to lower trade barriers could be as important as exchange rate reforms in easing economic strains with the United States, Washington’s top trade negotiator said as the two powers entered a second day of talks. Senior officials …
The UK’s Prudential Plc is expected to outline divestments of some Asian assets in its upcoming rights offering prospectus in an effort to appease shareholder concerns about its planned AIA acquisition, a source familiar with the process told Reuters on …
Jeffery Stone and his wife Janette Diller Stone, one-time operators of a now-defunct New York investment firm called Crescent Fund, are not on any government most wanted list. And they aren’t exactly hiding, either. But the former Greenwich, Connecticut, residents …
Catastrophe risk modeling firms AIR Worldwide and EQECAT have both issued bulletins analyzing the magnitude 6.4 earthquake that struck south central Taiwan Thursday morning at 8:20 a.m. local time. AIR noted that the epicenter “was located about 40 km (25 …
Singapore said on Friday it had raised alert levels in the city-state and beefed up security at its airport and new casino resorts after a warning of possible attacks on oil tankers in the Malacca Strait. [See IJ web site …
A.M. Best Co. has assigned a debt rating of “bbb-” to the recently issued $250 million 8.875 percent senior unsecured notes, due 2040 of Bermuda’s Validus Holdings, Ltd., and has assigned them a stable outlook. Best noted that the “proceeds …
U.S. businesses and government agencies are facing increasing risks of potential cyber attacks from China, according to a recent report. And IT departments that react defensively to such attacks may not be doing enough to prevent a “long term, sophisticated …
A report from Munich Re confirms that losses from natural catastrophes “were far lower in 2009 than in 2008 due to the absence on the whole of major catastrophes and a very benign North Atlantic hurricane season.” However, the reinsurer …
Marsh announced that it has concluded an agreement to acquire HSBC Insurance Brokers Ltd (HIBL), a wholly owned subsidiary of the HSBC Banking Group. The total consideration is valued at £135 million ($218 million), to be paid with a “mixture …
An earthquake early warning system for California is feasible in coming years, according to research being presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco this week. The ongoing study demonstrates that an earthquake early warning system for California …
