A new year has dawned and as celebrations from the holidays die down, insurers turn a wary eye toward a potentially chaotic future. 2011 has gained infamy as one of the worst years in recent history in terms of natural disasters. While some insurance organizations claim the total cost of worldwide catastrophes hovers in the range of $100 billion, Munich Re, a global reinsurance and risk solutions firm, asserts that the real total of global disasters is at $310 billion. Risk modelers have yet to release their predictions regarding the…
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Despite disasters, global insurance industry sees only modest rate hikes in 2011
This year, the global insurance industry saw more than $100 billion in insured losses due to natural disasters. Normally, losses are accompanied by rate increases, but many insurers have not been raising premiums as much as analysts and consumers had expected. The fact that insurers have issued only modest rate hikes throughout the world has had a profound impact on the investment business. Investors are now having trouble figuring out which companies are good targets for the 2012 fiscal year, as many have emerged from 2011 catastrophes will healthy capital…
Read MoreConnecticut Insurance Department teams with the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority to protect consumers
The Connecticut Insurance Department has entered into a new agreement with the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority in order to better supervise an insurance organization that does business in both Germany and the U.S. The agreement is the second between the two entities in the past three months. Insurance Commissioner Thomas Leonardi believes that ensuring the financial stability of insurance companies is vastly important to the protection of consumers. Regulation, according to Leonardi, is the best way to keep insurers from making costly decisions that could compromise the economy. As…
Read MoreCombined Insurance Co. of America receives $8.7 million fine for regulatory breaches
Non-life insurance company, Combined Insurance Co. of America has received fines totaling $8.7 million in the United Kingdom and Ireland due to a number of regulatory breaches. The insurer sells its products via agents affiliated with the company, and is required to pay a fine of $4.36 million to the Central Bank of Ireland through its Combined Insurance Co. of Europe Ltd. division. Separately, the company received a fine worth $4.34 million from the U.K. Financial Services Authority as a result of a failure to manage its selling processes, as…
Read MoreGlobal insurance and banking regulators call for more oversight in the industry
As the world’s economy continues to sputter ever onward, global insurance and banking regulators are setting their sights on financial institutions that provide insurance products. These institutions contributed to the global recession in varying degrees, and regulators now want to ensure that a similar crisis does not form due to lack of oversight. Regulators have drafted a new set of rules that aim to assess whether banks selling insurance products are managing their liquidity and capital levels as they are meant to. The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the International…
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