Corporate round-up

QBE appoints Richard Pryce as Deputy CEO of its European business and expands risk management team QBE has appointed Richard Pryce as Deputy Chief Executive Officer of QBE’s European Operations. Mr Pryce will take up his role later in the year and will be based in QBE’s London office, reporting to Steven Burns, Chief Executive Officer of QBE European Operations. The insurer has also announced that Martin Devaney has joined its Risk Management Services (RMS) team to take the role of Senior Client Risk Manager. He will lead the Liability RMS team reporting to Richard Thomas, Head of Risk Management Services for the company’s property, casualty and motor division.hideMr Pryce has worked in the London insurance market for 30 years, latterly as president of ACE UK, where he was responsible for its London market speciality business, including Lloyd’s operations, and the company’s property and casualty insurance business in the UK and Ireland. Mr Devaney has over 20 years’ experience in the risk management and insurance arenas, originally starting his career in local government where he was a risk and insurance manager for a number of large public entities. Most recently, Martin has worked as a risk consultant for Marsh McLennan Risk Consulting and as a senior risk manager for Travelers Insurance Company. Beazley launches international data breach product to speed up response and minimise damage Beazley has launched Beazley Breach Response—a data breach insurance product for companies based outside the US—that provides clients with access to vital services in the event of a data breach. Beazley said the new product will help buyers to respond quickly to any breach and minimise its impact. Services provided under the cover include forensic IT auditing, customer notification specialists, public relations experts and legal counsel. Ponemon Institute’s Annual Study into the Cost of a Data Breach in the UK found that the average cost of lost business as a result of a breach fell from £910,000 to £780,000 in 2011. This was the result of companies responding more quickly and effectively to an incident, it said. The report found that companies who use outside consultants to assist with the handling of a breach can save as much as £11 per breached data record. The average cost per record is £79, with £37 of this cost being indirect costs such as lost business, reputational damage and churn of existing customers. However, a worrying trend for companies identified by the Ponemon research is that malicious and criminal attacks are on the increase. They are up to 31% from 29% the previous year. The report also found that the most common cause for a data breach is still negligent employees and consultants and this was the reason for 36% of all breaches. Paul Bantick, head of Beazley’s technology, media and business services team, said: “As many companies have learned, a data breach cannot be solved simply by throwing money at the problem. What you need is access to the right skills, swiftly deployed. Beazley’s Breach Response Solution helps companies to react quickly to an event that can prove devastating to customer confidence if not handled well. Companies confronted with a data breach do not have the time or knowledge to assemble all the expert resources they need from scratch, and we can help them access the skills they need.” Policy wordings are available in English, French and Spanish. Catlin Beijing office approved Catlin, the international specialty property/casualty insurer and reinsurer, has been granted approval by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission to open and operate a wholly owned representative office in Beijing. Catlin said the new office further increases its commitment to the insurance and reinsurance market in China. Whilst no business will be underwritten from the Beijing representative office, Catlin said its establishment will help the company to liaise more closely with relevant departments of the Chinese government and insurance industry organisations, as well as conduct market research regarding insurance and reinsurance in China. Chief Representative Freeman Zhang will head the Beijing office. Stephen Catlin, Chief Executive of Catlin Group Limited, said: “I am delighted that Catlin has received permission from China Insurance Regulatory Commission to establish a representative office in Beijing. “I believe that China offers great opportunity to international insurers and reinsurers such as Catlin, and the formation of a representative office in China’s capital will allow Catlin to establish closer ties with Chinese regulators and insurance industry organizations and to conduct further research into the growing market for insurance and reinsurance in China,” he added. The Beijing representative office is part of Catlin’s Asia-Pacific underwriting hub, headquartered in Singapore. Besides the Beijing office, the Asia-Pacific hub has established representative offices in Tokyo and Mumbai. The hub also underwrites coverage through six other offices in Asia and Australia. Chartis appoints new UK Head of Casualty Chartis has announced the appointment of Lisa Williams as the UK Head of Casualty. She will report to Jacqueline McNamee, Executive Director, Commercial Lines UK and Gregg Piltch, Head of Casualty Europe. Previously, Ms Williams was the Liabilities Underwriting Manager Europe at Chartis and prior to that Vice President Liabilities for the UK Region based in London. She began her career with AIG in 1988 within its Accounts Receivables department. Willis strengthens its international Global Solutions team with Asian focus Willis has made two appointments to its Global Solutions (International) team to help increase its multinational client focus in Asia. Karen Lieu has joined as Managing Director, Asia Global Solutions (International), while Michelle Zhou has been appointed Divisional Director, Global Solutions (International). Ms Lieu will be based in Hong Kong where she will focus on developing opportunities with large multinational companies in the Asia region. She will report jointly to Roger Wilkinson, Chairman and CEO of Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa, and Alistair Lester, CEO, Global Solutions (International). Ms Lieu was formerly Managing Director of HSBC Insurance Brokers in Hong Kong and most recently CEO of Marsh Hong Kong. Based in London, Ms Zhou will concentrate initially on developing opportunities with large multinational companies in Greater China. She joins Willis from Marsh's Asia Clients Practice, having previously worked for Chartis in New York, Hong Kong and China. Commenting on the appointments, Roger Wilkinson said: “Asia is one of the most dynamic growth areas in the world, and by appointing Karen and Michelle, Willis is increasingly well positioned to take advantage of this. They both bring large amounts of experience and in-depth regional knowledge and will complement our existing Asia teams excellently.” The Global Solutions initiative, which had its first full 12 months of operation in 2011, was established to expand Willis' global accounts base. BLP Insurance Practice promotes Neil Owen to partner Law firm, Berwin Leighton Paisner (BLP), has promoted senior insurance and reinsurance lawyer, Neil Owen, to partnership in its London office. Mr Owen was formerly a life reinsurance underwriter in the London Market. His practice includes UK and cross-border insurance and reinsurance litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution matters. BLP said his promotion highlights the growing strength of BLP’s insurance and reinsurance practice. The practice recently recruited Aidan Thomson, who specialises in environmental insurance matters, as a partner from Barlow Lyde & Gilbert. Nicki’s Smile Chosen as XL Group’s Charity of the Year Nicki’s Smile, which is a fund of Pancreatic Cancer UK, has been chosen as XL Group’s UK Charity of the Year for 2012–2015. Over the next three years, it is hoped that the XL Group will donate over £100,000 to the charity. Nicki’s Smile was set up in memory of Nicki Blake who lost her 2-year battle with pancreatic cancer in November 2010 aged just 33, leaving behind her husband Dan and 3-year-old son Joshua. Pancreatic Cancer UK is the only national charity dedicated to fighting pancreatic cancer on all fronts: through support, information, research and campaigning. James Martin, Chair of the UK Charity Committee at XL Group, commented: “We are absolutely thrilled to be in partnership with this extremely important organisation and look forward to working with Dan, Nicki’s Smile and Pancreatic Cancer UK to raise crucial funds and increase the profile of this great cause.” Alex Ford, CEO of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: “We are very grateful that Nicki’s Smile and Pancreatic Cancer UK have been chosen by XL Group’s UK employees to be their Charity of the Year. Pancreatic cancer research is very under-funded so this type of financial support is invaluable in the fight against this dreadful disease.”

Corporate round-up

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