AXA has completed the sale of its operations in Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia to UNIQA Insurance Group for €1bn. AXA said the sale of its P&C, life and health, and pensions businesses in central and eastern Europe will improve its solvency ratio by two percentage points for Q4 2020. The deal was first announced in February, when CEO Thomas…
Corporate insolvency is expected to surge in the Czech Republic towards the end of this year as pandemic relief measures put in place by the government expire, warns credit insurer Atradius in a new country trading report. The report explains that an amendment to the country’s solvency law to halt insolvency proceedings and relieve the pressure of Covid-19 on businesses…
New country reports by Atradius warn that the credit risk outlook is bleak for the Polish automotive and transport sector and poor in other industries such as construction, machines, metals and steel, with increased likelihood of insolvencies. Meanwhile, the outlook is bleak for the Russian machines/engineering and textiles industries, and poor in several others. The country and sector reports help…
AXA XL has appointed Bruno Laval as chief distribution officer for Asia and Europe, and regional manager of European markets, under its new regional model. The firm has also named a new chief underwriting officer for the region and appointed heads in France, Germany, Switzerland and Asia-Pacific. Mr Laval, who was previously AXA XL Insurance’s regional manager for Europe, will…
Central and eastern European (CEE) countries are looking increasingly like beneficiaries of the impact of Covid-19 on global trade and supply chains, as European Union companies seek to bring their sources of supply closer to home. But companies in the CEE cannot rely on cheaper labour alone to take advantage of any post-pandemic supply chain shift. They will need to…
The European Union’s efforts to tackle rising protectionism worldwide managed to generate some €8bn in additional exports during 2019. But trade barriers continue to grow and threaten the recovery from Covid-19, warns the EC. The Commission’s annual Trade and Investment Barriers report, published this week, reveals some notable successes in tackling protectionism, particularly in the food sector. Coordinated efforts by the…
The European Commission has approved, under EU state aid rules, a French guarantee scheme for small and midsize companies with export activities that are affected by the coronavirus outbreak. It is thought the scheme will mobilise some €200m. This follows approval given by the EC for a guarantee scheme that will be managed by the Czech export credit agency EGAP,…
RMS has launched a new model for convective storms in Europe, which caused €12bn of insured losses between 2013 and 2019. The model covers a range of severe convective storm events, including localised tornadoes and hailstorms. It models property and motor policy losses. The European Severe Convective Storm High Definition Model covers 17 countries where the risk of severe convective…
Bottlenecks in European and global supply chains caused by the Covid-19 pandemic will significantly deepen the economic crisis faced by EU nations and plunge the bloc into a worse recession than in 2009, according to Oxford Economics, the UK-based global forecasting and quantitative analysis firm. Its latest analysis finds that for the EU, intra-bloc trade is vital and shutdowns will…
The World Bank’s pandemic bonds, which could provide $132.5m of funds to countries within the International Development Association (IDA) and International Bank Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), will be triggered and paid out – but only if reported cases of coronavirus continue to escalate rapidly in the developing world, as cases in China and Europe show welcome signs of plateauing. Credit…