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International News

Threat of crackdown on U.S. insurers fades as political ‘Blue Wave’ sputters

That bodes well for the insurance industry, which had feared a Democratic sweep would allow progressives to reprise regulations introduced after the 2008-2009 financial crisis and push a disruptive healthcare overhaul.

Health insurance stocks jumped on Wednesday, as fears of a dramatic change faded. The S&P 500 managed care index .SPLRCHMO rose 9.8% as investors and insurance trade groups cheered an expected Republican hold on the Senate. 

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European Development Finance group to exit fossil fuel investments by 2030

The move comes a week before the world’s 450 DFIs meet for the first time at a major conference in France to discuss accelerating their efforts to help in the fight against climate change as well as to boost sustainable development more broadly.

A key factor will be how open lenders in coal-reliant Asia are to any toughening of policy.

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India sees early vaccine launch as AstraZeneca deliveries run late

An Indian government-backed vaccine could be launched as early as February – months earlier than expected – as last-stage trials begin this month and studies have so far showed it is safe and effective, a senior government scientist told Reuters.

Bharat Biotech, a private company that is developing COVAXIN with the government-run Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), had earlier hoped to launch it only in the second quarter of next year.

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Lloyd’s 2nd blueprint targets cost reduction of £800m for brokers, underwriters and business partners

The comprehensive programme and priorities detailed in Blueprint Two will profoundly transform the way in which customers get covered, right though to recovering from loss; this will be achieved by the redesign of the entire insurance lifecycle process – from placement through to accounting, payment, endorsements, claims, renewals and reporting – offering a seamless digital service for all Lloyd’s customers and stakeholders globally.  

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Infosys receives RIMS global ERM Award of Distinction 

“We operate in a fast-evolving world, where we and our stakeholders find ourselves in the midst of disruption.Success in times like these require us to take calculated risks so we can move forward in a differentiated and progressive manner. Our enterprise risk management program has evolved to become a strong framework to manage potential threats to our objectives in a proactive manner, and enhance our performance,” said U B Pravin, Member of Board & Chief Operating Officer, Infosys Limited

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UK regulator, insurers, set for November 16 court battle over COVID-19 case

The FCA, six insurers and an action group are appealing a lower court judgment that sought to clarify whether 21 policy wordings, affecting potentially 700 types of policies, 60 insurers, 370,000 policyholders and billions in claims, cover disruption and government-ordered closures to curb the virus.

Although expedited, the appeal has delayed payouts on disputed claims just as thousands of struggling businesses face a second national lockdown this week to curb resurgent coronavirus cases.

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Technology can make India’s crop insurance scheme profitable:Report

Contributing to the report, the Agricultural Insurance Company of India commented: “With the advent of new concepts in agriculture, the scope for crop / agriculture insurance in India is vast. The main challenge is consistency. The scheme has changed drastically in a very short space of time. Reinsurers believe there is ample opportunity but only if they decide to commit to this product for the longer term and take a long-term view despite the changes.”

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Poor public risk management led to higher Covid-19 Pandemic losses and P&C market exposure:Denis Kessler 

Denis Kessler, chairman and chief executive officer of SCOR said that this is the biggest surprise of the crisis because it’s the opposite of what, broadly speaking, had been anticipated and modelled for pandemic risk. While the industry was certainly not unaware of pandemic threat, it failed to accurately anticipate the lines it would impact most severely

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