At the end of May, The Office of the Commissioner of Insurance (OCI) released provisional statistics detailing the Hong Kong insurance industry's positive market performance in the first quarter of 2011. One particularly notable development mentioned was the increasing proportion of business accounted for by visitors from mainland China. Hong Kong - a special administrative region (SAR) of China…

Insurance industry analysts have been anticipating a busy summer season of merger and acquisition activity amongst global insurers and reinsures, as a continued soft market in the wake of prolonged catastrophe losses prompts mid-sized companies to consolidate and gain scale to return sufficient capital for investors. The US$3.2 billion merger of equals between international reinsurers Transatlantic…

A new report published by worldwide insurance rating and information agency A.M Best Co predicts substantial change will occur within the Vietnamese insurance industry as the country's regulatory framework evolves, allowing the market to open up further for foreign companies to share their capital and technical expertise. In the special report, titled "Vietnam's Insurance Market Awakening to Further…

Transatlantic Holdings Inc. and Allied World Assurance Company Holdings announced on Sunday the signing of a definitive merger agreement between the two firms that will create a top global specialty insurance and reinsurance company, aimed primarily at increasing business outside of North America. The combined entity will function under a holding company structure, titled TransAllied Group Holdings…

The case, 'Coventry First LLC v. Does 1-10,' was filed on Tuesday in Philadelphia federal court. Coventry First filed the suit against an anonymous Twitter user known as @coventryfirst on allegations of trademark infringement, unfair competition and defamation. The insurer is seeking an order to take down the parody Twitter account as well as monetary damages. Coventry First argues that the online account violates its trademark and the numerous 'tweets' about the life settlement industry would cause further confusion in the marketplace. Twitter Inc. is not a party to the suit.

For many years it has been common knowledge that smoking is an extremely harmful habit, with smokers presenting an increased risk for a host of medical conditions including Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, and infertility, to name but a few. However, a recent study published in Science has highlighted a potential positive effect in Nicotine, a key chemical contained in tobacco products. It…

This week, top executives from the global insurance and reinsurance business are attending Standard & Poor's 27th Annual Insurance Conference 2011 at the New York Marriott Marquis in New York City to discuss and evaluate the various earnings challenges currently facing the industry. S&P's series of seminars have thus far revealed some interesting insights on the state of international insurance today.…

Starr International, a Bermuda-based private insurance holding company, has acquired a 20 percent stake in the Chinese property insurer Dazhong Insurance Co Ltd.

Insured losses from one unprecedented week of massive thunderstorms that struck the United States in May could cost insurers as much as US$7 billion, according to a statement from catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide. The Boston-based firm calculated that the severe storms that occurred throughout the country from May 20 to the 27, led by costs from the devastating tornado that struck Joplin, Missouri, will result in cumulative insured losses to residential, commercial, industrial properties and automobiles of between US$4 billion and US$7 billion. More than 500 people have been killed from tornadoes already this year, including at least 130 from the Joplin disaster.

This week, South Africa-based medical system administrator and managed care provider, Agility Global Health Solutions, began operations in the Middle East through a joint venture agreement with a local conglomerate.