Business Insurance: Breaking News
MILAN, Italy (Reuters)? Three of Italy's main unions called for a nationwide ports strike to start on Friday after two workers died overnight in a port near Venice. The call for a strike which could paralyze the country comes as Italy debates workplace safety following a fire last month at a...
FRANKFURT, Germany (Reuters)? The president of Germany's financial watchdog BaFin broke his silence on Wednesday, speaking for the first time publicly since the subprime crisis rattled Germany and warned that it could also suck in insurers. "Insurers don't invest in a vacuum and so they have...
HONG KONG (Reuters)? Moody's Investors Service on Thursday placed Ambac Financial Inc, which insures more than $500 billion in bonds, on review for a possible ratings cut, an event that could trigger similar downgrades on billions of dollars of debt. A cut could mean the ratings on the bonds...
NEW YORK (Reuters)?Bermuda reinsurers RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. and PartnerRe Ltd. said on Wednesday they will write off three-year-old investments in Channel Re, a reinsurer formed solely to do business with MBIA Inc., the world's largest bond insurer. The announcement comes after Channel...
WASHINGTON (Reuters)?Health insurers, which took a major role in Medicare under Republican President Bush, will likely remain a mainstay in the program for years to come, even if a Democrat wins the White House. More than 9 million of the 44 million individuals in Medicare, the federal insurance...
BRUSSELS, Belgium/LONDON (Reuters)?The European Commission raided some of the world's largest drugmakers on Wednesday, launching a broad investigation into whether they made illegal deals or abused patents to limit competition and harm consumers. Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said the...
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Reuters)?Florida's insurance commissioner said on Wednesday that he had suspended Allstate from writing auto insurance policies in the state because it had not complied with a subpoena to testify about its property insurance business. "We're going to hit them where it hurts,"...
WASHINGTON (Reuters)?Current and former chief executive officers of three major U.S. financial institutions deeply involved in the widening subprime mortgage crisis were asked on Monday by a Congressional committee to testify at a hearing next month on their massive pay and severance packages. A...
LONDON (Reuters)?The British government is considering all options for embattled mortgage lender Northern Rock, including nationalization, although a private sale is still the preferred option, finance minister Alistair Darling said on Tuesday. In a speech to the Royal Society of Arts, Darling...
BEIJING, (Reuters)?Insurance premiums in China increased 24% in 2007 to hit 700 billion yuan ($97 billion), Wei Yingning, vice chairman of the China Insurance Regulatory Commission said on Tuesday. That was well above the 14.4% rise in 2006 as the insurance industry burgeons, with Beijing...
