At an event in southern Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva...
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South Africa moves to implement national health bill despite resistance
Cyril Ramaphosa,President, South Africa The legislation will...
Severe thunderstorms drive insured losses to $ 60 billion in first half of 2024, Swiss Re
Balz Grollimund, Head of Catastrophe Perils at Swiss Re, said: "In...
Google women in US suing over gender bias win class-action status
A San Francisco state judge certified the class action Thursday, allowing the four lead plaintiffs to represent 10,800 women over claims that Google pays men more for doing the same job. A previously disclosed analysis showed that the case seeks more than $600 million in damages. The women allege violations of California’s Equal Pay Act, one of the strongest measures of its kind nationwide.
Safety ratings yanked after Tesla pulls radar from 2 Models:Consumer Reports
“If a driver thinks their vehicle has a safety feature and it doesn’t, that fundamentally changes the safety profile of the vehicle,” David Friedman, Consumer Reports’ vice president of advocacy, said in a statement. “It might not be there when they think it would save their lives.”
Disaster feared as chemical cargo ship sinks off Sri Lanka
The Singapore-registered MV X-Press Pearl, carrying 1,486 containers, including 25 tonnes of nitric acid, along with other chemicals and cosmetics, was anchored off the island’s west coast when a fire erupted on May 20. Authorities have been battling the blaze since then, as flaming containers laden with chemicals have fallen from the ship’s deck, the navy said last month.
China’s new three-child policy draws scepticism, cost questions
James Liang, a professor at Peking University’s School of Economics and founder of online travel giant Trip.com Group, last month urged China to give parents of each newborn 1 million yuan to lift a fertility rate of just 1.3 children per woman in 2020. That rate is in line with countries such as Japan and Italy and far short of the 2.1 replacement rate.
He said this week that China would need to spend about 5% of GDP, compared with “practically 0% now”, in cash, tax breaks, housing subsidies, daycare, and other incentives to get the fertility rate up to about 1.6, and expects the government soon to step up building day-care centers and kindergartens. Developed counties typically spend 1% to 4% of GDP on such support, he said.
Covid-19 claims cost life reinsurers billions
The biggest costs for life reinsurers came from the US and to a lesser extent the UK and Canada but claims from other countries including South Africa and in Latin America added to the costs. Life reinsurers only have limited exposure to India.
BI estimates Swiss Re accounted for around 35% of claims followed by Reinsurance Group of America on 27% but the decline in deaths should mean much lower claims for the second half of the year.
Howden launches Parhelion, world’s first fully sustainable insurer
Against the backdrop of an insurance industry starved of truly sustainable capacity, Parhelion’s new and diversified ESG products will meet the risk financing needs of a greener economy.
The new business has been seeded by Howden and will match the surge in institutional capital seeking sustainable investment strategies with the growing demand from corporates looking for an insurance provider to support their journey towards ESG transition and a more resilient future.
At the end of 2020, over $40tn of assets globally were invested in ESG-aligned and sustainable impact strategies, nearly double the amount invested just four years earlier*, but very little has been deployed across the (re)insurance industry.
Tencent-owned startup reinsurer FuSure receives license for Hong Kong operation
With an initial capitalisation of HKD 1 billion (approximately USD 129 million), the company is 85.01% owned by Tencent Holdings Limited (Tencent), a technology conglomerate listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, and 14.99% owned by Grand Azure Limited, a privately owned investment company.
Willis Towers Watson launches new Sports and Entertainment Industry Group
Ian Tomlin, Head of Accident & Health, Willis Towers Watson commented, “We are excited to launch the Sports & Entertainment industry group, which will align a breadth of expertise across the network to offer the sector a new comprehensive, global approach to risk management. We are delighted to be working across the global sports industry as well as supporting event organisers and production companies in partnership with the Willis Towers Watson Leisure and Hospitality Practice.”
Scott Sayce appointed Global Head of Cyber at Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty
In 2020, AGCS generated more than EUR 100 million gross premium written with cyber insurance solutions globally. In March 2021, AGCS announced a partnership with Google Cloud and Munich Re offering a unique cyber risk management solution for cloud customers.
7 EU nations start issuing Covid certs
Travellers can move freely if at least one of these three criteria is met. Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Croatia and Poland made the certificates available. The system would be used in all 27 EU countries as of July 1. NYT