A federal appeals court has ruled that American International Group Inc. must defend famed comedian Bill Cosby against defamation claims made by nine women, Business Insurance reported. The insurer initially agreed to foot the legal bill but backtracked later, citing policy language. After Cosby sued, the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Boston ruled that AIG must defend him based on the broadly worded sexual misconduct exclusion in the umbrella policy.
Shifting to M&A,
In Japan, Dai-ichi Life Holdings Inc. is leading the race to acquire Suncorp Group Ltd.'s life insurance operations, The Australian reported. Dai-ichi Life has been conducting due diligence to buy the business from the Australia-based insurer and lender for some time.
Tokio Marine HCC subsidiary HCC International Insurance Co. PLC entered into an agreement with Qdos Holdings Ltd. and other selling shareholders to acquire Qdos Contractor of The Qdos Group.
And, National Bank of Greece SA received a binding offer from Shanghai-based investment group Gongbao for a majority stake in its wholly owned insurance unit Ethniki Hellenic General Insurance Co. SA, Reuters reported.
Featured news
KKR in $9.9B deal for Envision; Sanofi, Lilly no clue on Trump insulin deal: KKR is acquiring U.S. medical services provider Envision Healthcare in a transaction valued at about $9.9 billion; and Sanofi said it has not received any proposal from the White House to lower the list price of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries.
Financial news in other parts of the world
Asia-Pacific: Dai-ichi Life top contender for Suncorp life ops; ICICI Bank faces US scrutiny
Europe: Swiss voters reject banking reform; UK FCA goes ahead with disputed listing rule
Middle East & Africa: Commercial Bank ends United Arab Bank stake sale talks; Moody's downgrades Gabon
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a mixed opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng was up 0.34% to 31,063.70. The Nikkei 225 rose 0.48% to 22,804.04. In Europe as of midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.91% to 7,750.65, and the Euronext 100 rose 0.43% to 1,062.12.
On the macro front
No notable reports are due out today.
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