Category:

International News

Financial firms and governments deeply sceptical of cryptocurrencies: survey

Around 60% of respondents from financial firms, government and the private sector alike to the survey by the Royal United Services Institute think-tank and the Association of Anti-Money Laundering Specialists said cryptocurrencies were a risk rather than an opportunity. Illicit usage was the major concern.
The findings, one of the most detailed efforts yet to map out mainstream global views towards cryptocurrencies, lay bare the depth of skepticism towards the emerging tech.

read more

Lloyd’s launches “first-of-its-kind” parametric business interruption insurance policy for SMEs

Parametrix Insurance offers simple and reliable coverage by removing the traditional indemnity trigger that most insurance policies today use. Instead, the new solution uses a parametric trigger, meaning that the policy automatically pays out if a customer’s critical IT services – such as cloud, e-commerce or payment systems – are disrupted. This significantly reduces the time insurers spend assessing a loss or adjusting a claim.

The new product is led by Tokio Marine Kiln (TMK) and supported by other members of Lloyd’s Product Innovation Facility including RenaissanceRe. It is the first off-the-shelf parametric IT downtime policy tailored towards SMEs.

read more

AstraZeneca gets partial immunity in low-cost EU vaccine deal

Drugmakers have called on EU regulators to set up a Europe-wide compensation scheme, while patients’ organizations are calling for an EU-wide fund financed by pharmaceutical firms that would compensate for unexpected side-effects.

The EU legal regime is among the least favorable to drugmakers on compensation claims, although plaintiffs have rarely managed to win as the law requires them to prove the link between an illness and a vaccine that may have caused it.

The United States has granted immunity from liability for COVID-19 vaccines that receive regulatory approval. Meanwhile, Russia has said it would shoulder some of the legal liability should anything go wrong with the vaccine developed by Moscow’s Gamaleya Institute.

read more

World Bank seeks board approval for $12 billion coronavirus vaccine financing plan

Malpass said the World Bank plan aimed to put poor and middle-income countries, where the virus is spreading most rapidly, on the same footing as richer countries by ensuring they have financing to secure supplies and a system for distribution, which will encourage drugmakers to meet their demand.

Without early doses that can bring outbreaks under control, many of these countries risk economic collapse that will push hundreds of millions of people back into poverty.

read more

Global coronavirus deaths pass ‘agonizing milestone’ of 1 million

It took just three months for COVID-19 deaths to double from half a million, an accelerating rate of fatalities since the first death was recorded in China in early January.

More than 5,400 people are dying around the world every 24 hours, according to Reuters calculations based on September averages, overwhelming funeral businesses and cemeteries.

read more

Pandemic to keep Asia’s growth at lowest since 1967, warns World Bank

The economic shock of the pandemic was also expected to lead to a jump in poverty, defined as income of $5.50 a day, the bank said, adding that based on past experience and the latest gross domestic product forecasts, poverty could expand by 33 million to 38 million people to see its first rise in 20 years.

The bank said that 33 million people who would have in the absence of the pandemic escaped poverty would remain in it this year.

read more