A disputed £30 million insurance claim made by failed U.K. steel producer British Steel Corp. Ltd. "could rise significantly" if the 18 insurers involved in the claim continue to fight its payment, according to the CEO of the company representing British Steel in the dispute. The company was placed in compulsory liquidation, putting 4,500 jobs directly at risk, after recent talks failed between the government and the company's owner, private equity firm Greybull Capital LLP.
Scor Investment Partners SE, the portfolio management company of Scor SE, agreed to acquire 100% of Coriolis Capital Ltd, a fund manager specializing in insurance-linked securities.
The trustee of the Marks & Spencer Pension Scheme struck pensioner buy-in deals totaling about £1.4 billion with Pension Insurance Corp. PLC and Phoenix Life Ltd.
Safety Insurance Group Inc. shareholders voted in favor of a proposal to adopt a majority voting standard in uncontested director elections.
Liberty Mutual Reinsurance, the reinsurance arm of Liberty Specialty Markets Ltd., has launched a reinsurance operation under Lloyd's of London registration in Mexico.
Unum Group Executive Vice President and CFO John McGarry will retire, effective Oct. 31. Steven Zabel, president of the company's closed block of business, will assume McGarry's roles, effective July 1.
ProAssurance Corp.'s board has named Edward Rand Jr. CEO, effective July 1.
The special committee of Fanhua Inc.'s board finished its review of the allegations raised by short sellers in January, concluding that the short-seller reports contained "baseless" speculation and "misleading and inaccurate" allegations.
Nippon Life Insurance Co. agreed to acquire Reliance Capital Ltd.'s stake in Reliance Nippon Life Asset Management Ltd. Through an open offer to the public shareholders of the asset management company and an acquisition from Reliance Capital, Nippon Life will raise its stake to 75% by acquiring an additional 32.125% stake for 45.2 billion Indian rupees.
Private equity firms Centerbridge Partners and Gallatin Point Capital are acquiring a 32.5% stake in Israeli insurer Phoenix Holdings Ltd. from Delek Group, according to Reuters. The parties agreed to a non-binding deal in February.
Vienna Insurance Group AG reported a 10.5% increase in its first-quarter net result after noncontrolling interests to €83.5 million from €75.5 million a year ago.
Kenya's Employment and Labour Relations Court stopped African Trade Insurance Agency from firing its CEO, George Oduori Otieno, before his term ends in 2021, Daily Nation reported.
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Average year for insurance carrier M&A remains achievable, if less likely: U.S. and Bermuda insurance M&A, facing an almost impossible year-over-year comparison, has been historically sluggish in terms of aggregate deal value so far in 2019. But the tally materially understates the level of activity that has occurred.
Consumers increasingly turning to combination products for long-term care needs: In-force acceleration benefit products grew by nearly 75,000 year over year in 2018, while traditional individual long-term care policies fell by almost 100,000 during the same period.
Sarepta therapies fail to get ICER nod; US single-payer debate heats up: The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review said Sarepta Therapeutics' gene therapies Exondys 51 and golodirsen are not cost-effective; and the idea of the U.S. adopting a single-payer healthcare system got its second vetting on Capitol Hill.
In other parts of the world
Asia-Pacific: ICBC gets nod to set up unit; 5 face charges for Bangladesh Bank heist
Europe: Generali eyes MetLife assets; N26 told to boost AML controls; Deutsche in focus
Middle East & Africa: Zambia central bank hikes key rate; Kenyan banks post Q1 results
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a lower opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, Hang Seng fell 1.58% to 27,267.13, while the Nikkei 225 was down 0.62% to 21,151.14.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was down 1.35% to 7,235.19, and the Euronext 100 decreased 1.45% to 1,033.16.
Click here to read about today's financial markets, setting out the factors driving stocks, bonds and currencies around the world ahead of the New York open.
On the macro front
The jobless claims report, the PMI Composite FLASH index, the new home sales report, the EIA natural gas report, the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing index, the Fed balance sheet and the money supply report are due out today.
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