Collective actions in Europe: What's the risk?
(Business Insurance Europe, November 5, 2007)
Experts say European legal systems traditionally lack features that have contributed to huge settlements in U.S. class actions.
French Decree Requires Ship Owners to Carry
Insurance to Cover Liability for Fuel Spills
(Appeared in May 2011, in Bloomberg BNA's International Environment Reporter and Daily Report for Executives
)
Law transposes international maritime liability treaty into French law.
French insurers to offer wide ELD cover
(Business Insurance Europe, June 4, 2007)
[PARIS]—The latest environmental liability product by Paris-based insurer AXA Corporate Solutions, a unit of AXA S.A., includes coverage for liabilities created by Europe's Environmental Liability Directive (2004/35/EC) and is to be rolled out in other European countries soon.
Insurance industry needs to act fast on competition concerns: E.C.
(Business Insurance Europe, November 19, 2007)
[BRUSSELS]—European insurers and brokers have months, not years, to respond to competition concerns raised by the European Commission's recently published sector inquiry report, according to Commission officials speaking at a recent seminar.
Competition block exemption for insurers may be 'abolished': E.C.
(Business Insurance Europe, July 30, 2007)
[BRUSSELS, Belgium]—European Commission and industry representatives traded clashing assessments on the need for increased competition in the European business insurance sector at a conference earlier this month.
ALSTOM is France's first asbestos loser
(Business Insurance Europe, September 25, 2006)
[LILLE, France]—A French criminal court has convicted a company and former plant manager of exposing workers to asbestos, in the first ruling in France whereby an employer has been found criminally guilty of endangering employees by exposing them to the potentially fatal fibers.
Threat of criminal investigation at Renault on employee suicides
(Business Insurance Europe, August 13, 2007)
[PARIS]—French automaker Renault S.A. faces a possible criminal investigation into recent suicides of three employees who worked at its state-of-the-art design center in Guyancourt, a western suburb of Paris, sources say.
Major UK Life Insurers Take Wrap for Investors
(Insurance Networking News, June, 2007)
Wrap platforms are helping British companies manage financial services and may prove inevitable there in general insurance.
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Renewal season finds rate cuts for majority of French line
(Business Insurance Europe, January 14, 2008)
[PARIS]—Rates for large corporate business continued their sharp slide for most lines during France's January 2008 renewal season, when about 70% to 80% of French companies renewed their programs...
French risk takers complain of 'lack of visibility on liability'
(Business Insurance Europe, January 14, 2008)
[PARIS]—As companies face liability risks when they develop new products, services, production and distribution methods, they can sometimes find that insurers leave them in the lurch, a prominent French risk manager complained recently.
Little insurance coverage for widespread transport strikes in France and Germany
(Business Insurance Europe, December 3, 2007)
[PARIS]—The recent nine-day French rail strike cost business hundreds of millions of euros a day, but principles enshrined in the country's constitution mean that the majority of those losses will be uninsured.
French tribunals penalize firms for layoffs: Report
(Business Insurance Europe, October 8, 2007)
[PARIS]—French industrial tribunals have hit companies with stiff financial penalties for what they term as "abusive layoffs" of people hired under so-called new-hire contracts, according to a report. (PDF file, middle of page)
Commission report may spark capacity shortfall and regulatory moves: Experts
(Business Insurance Europe, October 8, 2007)
[BRUSSELS]—Stern warnings by the European Commission on premium alignment in co-insurance could rattle the market enough to cause capacity contraction for certain lines, particularly in the London market. (PDF file, top of page)
Many French retirees worked with asbestos
(Business Insurance Europe, September 24, 2007)
Half of retired French artisanal workers—craftsmen—have been exposed to asbestos during their careers, according to early results from a French government study.
Telecom company faces fine despite settlement of original case
(Business Insurance Europe, September 10, 2007)
[PARIS]—France Telecom S.A. faces a fine of up to €120 million in an Internet-access sector case before France's competition watchdog, La Conseil de la Concurrence, even though the two companies that originally made complaints dropped their cases years ago.
Amrae president calls for terrorism coverage audit
(Business Insurance Europe, September 10, 2007)
[PARIS]—As France's terrorism risk pool Gareat moves to spur price competition for reinsurance with a fundamental change to its tender system, the president of the country's risk management association wants an audit into the premium trail for terrorism coverage that he considers "very expensive."
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IRGC develops guidelines on future biofuels
(Business Insurance Europe, August 13, 2007)
[GENEVA] Geneva, Switzerland-based International Risk Governance Council will create guidelines to help governments promote sustainable production and use of biomass for fuel, it said.
L'Oréal found guilty of discriminatory hiring
(Business Insurance Europe, July 30, 2007)
[PARIS]—In a case which experts say could have high reputational stakes, a Paris appeals court this month fined a subsidiary of the French cosmetics giant L'Oréal S.A. and two other companies €30,000 each for discriminatory hiring. The court reversed an earlier criminal-court decision to throw out all charges.
Class actions 'à la Française' back on the political agenda
(Business Insurance Europe, July 30, 2007)
[[PARIS]—The newly elected French president has put reform of France's consumer protection laws—and the possibility of class-action style lawsuits—back on the political agenda.
E.U. embraces Solvency II regime
(Business Insurance Europe, July 16, 2007)
STRASBOURG, France—The European Commission last week formally adopted the proposed Solvency II framework directive, with a 2012 implementation deadline that is two years later than previously planned.
Record net profits: FFSA report
(Business Insurance Europe, July 16, 2007)
[PARIS]—In a year in which French insurers earned record net profits, commercial property and casualty premiums rose 2.9% in 2006 to an estimated €19.4 billion-up from €18.8 billion in 2005—according to the Fédération Française des Sociétés d'Assurance, France's insurer federation.
French market divided on future direction of rates
(Business Insurance Europe, July 2, 2007)
[PARIS]—The French market for primary corporate insurance saw prices tumble by 10% to 50% during 2007 first-half renewals, experts said. While some expect more of the same next year, others see rates stabilizing in 2008 and possibly making a sharp upturn. Several risk experts said wildly seesawing rates are bad for both insurers and their customers.
French joint venture launches climate risk forecast service
(Business Insurance Europe, June 18, 2007)
[PARIS]—France's national weather service and the company managing the Paris stock-market launched last week a joint subsidiary aimed at helping businesses, risk underwriters and brokers manage climate risks.
French consumers try to overturn class action ban
(Business Insurance Europe, September 11, 2006)
[PARIS]—A French consumer association is bringing a mass lawsuit in a bid to highlight what it considers to be deficiencies in the country's judicial system and as part of a campaign for the introduction of class action-style lawsuits.
Pensions
OECD Says Annuity Providers Need
Better Data to Address Longevity Risks
(Appeared June 19, 2012 in Bloomberg BNA'sPension Benefits Reporter)
Governments should help improve mortality data and longevity forecasting in an effort to “kick-start” the nascent market for annuities products designed to help people ensure they have enough income for a long old ag, OECD says.
