Can you summarise what happened in the Adidas case? David Halperin: The sportswear manufacturer suffered a fire at its warehouse in India in 2009, for which both its German parent (Adidas Germany) and Indian subsidiary (Adidas India) received insurance indemnification. Adidas India received $7m under a property policy issued to it in India (the Adidas India policy), covering loss caused…
Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook for the underlying fundamentals of both the London market insurance sector and the global reinsurance sector to negative from stable. The ratings agency said the revision reflects increased concerns over the Covid-19 disruption and the related impacts on the credit quality of London market insurers and global reinsurers. Fitch said its outlook for ratings…
Portugal is to delay the introduction of its new stamp duty reporting system until 2021, according to insurance premium tax compliance consultancy Impendulo. This is due to the delays caused by the current Covid-19 pandemic. Impendulo said the Portuguese tax authority has decided to defer the introduction of the new stamp duty reporting system to 2021, and reporting will be…
European and national policymakers have been urged to keep European financial markets open during the Covid-19 pandemic. A group of ten associations representing a range of financial services companies, exchanges, funds and consumers, including Insurance Europe, has written to various policymakers emphasising the importance of keeping European financial markets open. The group says that closing the markets would have a…
Willis Towers Watson’s (WTW) GB financial lines and executives risk team (Finex) has appointed Eve Richards as its new GB head of Finex D&O, and Angus Duncan as executive director and coverage specialist. According to WTW, they will be tasked with working with large complex clients on structuring “long-term sustainable placements in a move that reflects the need for a…
The American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) has said it is crucial to discourage efforts to impose retroactive coverage on insurance policies in relation to Covid-19. Speaking at the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) online special session on Covid-19, David A Sampson, president and CEO of the APCIA, said: “Most importantly, it is vitally important to discourage efforts to…
Increasing digitalisation of insurance could unintentionally create risks of poor outcomes for policyholders and increased vulnerabilities for the sector as a whole, and supervisors must remain vigilant of such risks and consider appropriate and proportionate responses. This is the message from the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS), which acknowledges the tremendous opportunities for the sector from big data for…
Fiona Park has been appointed as Marsh’s multinational practice leader for Scotland within its UK corporate division. She will lead the team, which brings together expertise across Marsh’s corporate offices in Aberdeen, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, and the business’s global network in more than 130 countries. Based in Glasgow, she will report to Allan McPherson, regional managing director for Scotland and…
A challenging year awaits the protection and indemnity (P&I) market, with uncertain and testing times ahead, according to Gallagher’s Marine P&I – 2020 Post-Renewal Market Update. The update states that an uneasy outlook prevails: “The geopolitical environment remains volatile and recent events have brought yet further challenging variables into an already unsteady political landscape and global economy.” It notes that…
The Hong Kong insurance industry reported an increase in total gross premiums in 2019 of 9.1% to $580.2bn, and an increase of 93.3% in general insurance business underwriting profit, according to provisional statistics released by the Insurance Authority of Hong Kong. The growth in premiums was largely driven by life business. Total revenue premiums of long-term in-force business were $524.6bn…