Aflac Inc. confirmed that Japan Post Holdings Co. Ltd. will purchase approximately 7% of its outstanding common shares through a trust. Japan Post will eventually hold up to 20% of the voting rights in Aflac as a result of the arrangement.
Hamilton Insurance Group and private equity firm Cinven are among bidders to have reached the second round in the race for Liberty Mutual's Lloyd's of London platform, Pembroke Managing Agency Ltd., The Insurance Insider reported.
CVS Health Corp. and Aetna Inc. may have to wait until at least February 2019 before they can start integrating their businesses in earnest, after a U.S. district court judge said he would decide whether to approve the merger only after the Department of Justice responds to 95 comments it received on the tie-up.
Canada-based Sun Life Financial Inc. plans to merge its North American real estate and property management division, Bentall Kennedy, with global property investor GreenOak Real Estate LP.
The scheme of arrangement by which entities affiliated with Bain Capital Private Equity LP will acquire U.K.-based insurer Esure Group PLC became effective, marking the completion of the £1.21 billion takeover.
Easton, Md.-based Shore Bancshares Inc. will sell substantially all of the assets of Avon-Dixon Agency LLC's insurance business to a unit of Alera Group Inc. for $26.9 million.
Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. will partner with Dutch pension fund manager and service provider PGGM Coöperatie UA to launch property catastrophe reinsurer Vermeer Reinsurance Ltd. The reinsurer will be capitalized with up to $1 billion.
Global insured losses in 2018 are estimated to be about US$79 billion, down from US$150 billion in 2017 but higher than the previous 10-year annual average of US$71 billion, according to preliminary estimates from Swiss Re AG. Total economic losses fell to US$155 billion from US$350 billion year over year.
And the data breach that Marriott International Inc. recently revealed could lead to direct cyber incident losses of between $200 million and $600 million, catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide said.
Now featured on S&P Global Market Intelligence
Rising seas, larger storm surges threaten billions of dollars in NYC real estate: Scientists say storm surges like Hurricane Sandy's, which devastated the center of the U.S. financial world, will become more frequent in the coming decades as a result of climate change.
New drama for ACA, health insurers after federal judge rules against reform law: A federal district judge's ruling striking down the Affordable Care Act is unlikely to affect health insurers' operations in the short term, but the market could be seriously disrupted if the judge's decision stands on appeal, industry sources told S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Insolvent Calif. insurer 'small' but hardly insignificant: Regulators' characterization of Merced Property & Casualty as a "small failing insurer" may not adequately contextualize the rapid-fire demise of a 112-year-old company that went from overcapitalized to insolvent virtually overnight.
Drop in bond yields reignites inverted curve fears ahead of expected rate hike: U.S. long-term interest rates saw a sharp drop in recent weeks, sparking fears again about a potential yield curve inversion and whether that would signal the approach of a recession.
In other parts of the world
Asia-Pacific: IDFC Bank, Capital First close merger; Bank of China names employee supervisors
Europe: Natixis, Sydbank profit warnings; Lloyds CEO faces heat; Italy budget deal
Middle East & Africa: Ecobank says unaware of probe; Fitch downgrades Oman; Morocco holds key rate
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, Hang Seng increased 0.20% to 25,865.39, while the Nikkei 225 decreased 0.60% to 20,987.92.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 increased 0.91% to 6,762.45, and the Euronext 100 increased 0.46% to 927.74.
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 MBA mortgage applications report, existing home sales report and EIA Petroleum status report are due out today.
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