Data and information management

Specialty lines carrier will use the technology to protect personally identifiable information customer information.

The firm estimates that reinsurers will enter 2009 with 15% to 20% less economic capital than in 2008.

The insurer appointed Russell Johnston president and CEO of AIG Environmental, one of the largest pollution liability insurance providers.

In a collection of essays, actuaries ponder the role of risk management in the financial crisis.

According to a new Impact Forecasting LLC report, approximately 86% of Californian homeowners do not have earthquake coverage, despite most of them having mortgaged their homes.

The technology giant says the addition of ILOG’s business rule management system will provide another dimension of leadership to its BPM portfolio.

For the time being, tech takes a back seat to cost minimization and operational efficiency, which are at the top of the operational agenda for many in financial services, according to the New York research firm.

Despite their bleeding-edge reputations, virtualization and cloud computing are already paying dividends to insurers.

There is an emerging demand for product lifecycle management applications, but to fully benefit, carriers need to focus on larger strategies.

Unrelenting pressure on expenses, improvements in networking and communication technology and an increased appreciation for flexible business models are driving insurers to outsource core processes.

National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) says the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) decision to order nine major insurance companies to provide data for a study of credit-based insurance scoring and homeowners insurance is unnecessary and a waste of money.

The 10-year moving average of insured catastrophe losses costs continued to rise in 2008, increasing by 7% over 2007—from $35.5 billion to $38 billion.

Swiss Re says the catastrophes led to overall financial losses of $61 billion across the globe, with property insurers contending with losses totaling $25 billion.

London - According to the latest report by independent market analyst Datamonitor, global financial institutions, in response to evolving marketing conditions, are beginning to view operational risk (OpRisk) as a means of providing a more proactive management decision-making framework.

Waltham , Mass. – For the second consecutive year, worries about bribery topped the list of crucial concerns addressed by global corporations, according to a 2008 study conducted by Integrity Interactive Corp., a Waltham , Mass. , firm that helps global corporations manage and reduce risk of compliance failures.

Chicago — Taking a step toward putting its financial house in order, New York-based American International Group (AIG) has sold its specialty insurance subsidiary HSB Group to Munich Re for $742 million in cash. The transaction marks the first major divestiture for beleaguered AIG after it agreed to accept a bailout from the U.S. Treasury.

Zurich, Switzerland — Acknowledging the need to improve its capital position, insurance giant Swiss Re has secured $1.5 billion in loans from New York-based JP Morgan. The insurer says the loan will guarantee it access to financing at competitive rates for years to come.

Region’s first paperless system is designed to save small businesses and brokers significant time, and eliminate up to one million pieces of paper annually.

According to the SEC, the move to use XBRL to find and sort information makes it easier to compare financial results, and has the potential to increase the speed, accuracy and usability of financial disclosure while eventually reduce costs for investors.

Karen Clark tells INN that insurers should not rely solely on near-term catastrophe modeling in light of overestimating the previous three hurricane seasons.