MEPs vote to put robots on the agenda to tackle safety and legal concerns January 17, 2017 MEPs have started on a European health and safety standard for robots – before the fracking toasters short circuit and become our overlords. Or before other countries like Japan and the US establish their standards first. A “kill” switch and creating a status for “electronic persons” that would bear legal responsibility are among recommendations that MEPs on [...]
Insurers quietly optimistic over May’s Brexit plans but sector confidence plummets to six-year low January 17, 2017 The insurance sector welcomed the Prime Minister’s Brexit plan as “a step in the right direction” but warned confidence among firms was at its lowest level since 2011. Prime Minister Theresa May’s proposals of a “phased implementation” were welcomed by the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), which believed it would lead to a greater degree of certainty [...]
Xi Jinping in Davos: “No one will emerge as a winner in a trade war.” January 17, 2017 Chinese president Xi Jinping used his first appearance at the World Economic Forum to mount a robust defence of globalisation. “It is the result of growing social productivity and is the natural outcome of scientific and technological advances”, Xi said in the forum’s Opening Plenary. “It is not something created by any individuals or any [...]
City Moves for 17 January 2017 | Who’s switching jobs January 17, 2017 Eversheds Frank Thompson has joined Eversheds' London insurance team. Frank has over 15 years of legal experience focusing on insurance coverage disputes and non-contentious coverage advice and has been ranked as a leading individual by Chambers and Partners for several years. Frank joins the firm as a lateral hire from K&L Gates where he earned recognition [...]
Insurance sector slapped with a 70 per cent top-up levy from regulators January 16, 2017 UK regulators have hiked levies on the insurers and pension firms despite plans to reduce total levies on the Britain's financial sector next year. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), a statutory initiative to compensate customers of financial services that are unable to pay claims against them, announced its overall budget for 2017/18. The overall industry levy will fall [...]
This is why investors should hope for an uplift in M&A activity this year January 13, 2017 Investors will be hoping for an uplift in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity this year, with a study highlighting the value added to companies by deals. In 2016, buyers outperformed the average company by 5.4 per cent, according to a Willis Towers Watson (WTW) and Cass Business School study. The outperformance was even more pronounced [...]
Axa UK’s chief executive: With a future of fleets of drones and driverless cars, incumbent insurers must act now January 13, 2017 Running late for work, you burst out of the front door and jump into the back seat of your car. Checking that the coast is clear, the vehicle pulls out of the drive and patiently glides down the street, pausing for traffic. Meanwhile, your smartwatch, gauging your speed and accessing the latest traffic data knows [...]
Banks could pull in more customers if they offered insurance, survey suggests January 12, 2017 A survey released today contains a potential solution for banking bosses worried about falling customer numbers: start offering insurance products. The figures from marketing specialist Collinson Group found consumers typically hold four different insurance products from three different providers . Almost two thirds (63 per cent) are sick of the split and would much prefer a [...]
This noise-cancelling device means you can finally have office phone conversations in private January 11, 2017 Tired of leaping up from your desk every time you need to have a private phone conversation at the office? One company has unveiled the solution: a mask which absorbs your speech. The Hushme looks like a pair of headphones, but is designed to go around your mouth, absorbing noise so you can have conversations without your [...]
Value of frauds reaches a five-year high, with London named as a crime hotspot January 11, 2017 The total value of frauds reported increased by just under a third last year to reach a five-year peak, with London remaining a criminal hotspot, figures released today show. BDO's FraudTrack, which keeps tabs on UK reported fraud cases with a value over £50,000, found total reported fraud in 2016 rose to £2bn, up 31.5 per cent [...]