Archive
International News Services archives articles supplied to clients one year or more after initial publication. These articles are protected by a password and not made available to readers without permission from clients. They are used as a background resource by agency journalists. Upon client requests, International News Services will remove such articles from the archive or not upload them in the first place. They are included to demonstrate the breadth of topics undertaken by the agency and also to help promote clients’ coverage.
RUSSIA EBRD
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is planning to sink US$3 million into buying a 30% equity stake in a new Russian life insurance operation. If Renaissance Life Insurance is successful, it could participate pro-rata in planned capital increases, bringing its total equity investment to US$ 11 million.…
CANADA INQUIRY
BY MONICA DOBIE
CONCERNS that rising Canadian car and property insurance premiums could have been caused by companies abusing dominant positions in particular provinces have been dismissed by a report from the country’s federal Competition Bureau.
Its review was launched in March 2004, after six federal MPs formally complained that insurers were not providing Canadians with reasonable and competitive insurance rates.…
AA DEAL
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE PURCHASE of Britain’s Automobile Association (AA) by two financial groups has been cleared by the European Commission, despite competition concerns over accident breakdown insurance regarding Kwik-Fit. New AA co-owner CVC Capital Partners, of Luxembourg, owns Kwik-Fit and Brussels is concerned it – like the AA – provides breakdown services.…
GRID GRANT
BY ALAN OSBORN
The European Commission is pressing ahead with the EU’s GRID project by making a grant of 52 million euros to fund 12 new research projects which Brussels said were designed to bring GRID networked computing “out of research labs and into industry.”…
CHINA CRIME FEATURE
BY EDWARD PETERS, in Hong Kong
HONG Kong might be renowned for being one of the safest cities in the world – mugging and other forms of street violence are practically unknown – but that’s not to say that commercial crime doesn’t rear its ugly head in the Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, reports Edward Peters.…
NEW COMMISSIONERS
BY ALAN OSBORN
THE NEW president of the European Commission, the former Portuguese prime minister Jose Manuel Barroso, has made clear that for the next five years at least there will be a reform-minded team at work in Brussels driven by a powerful desire to eliminate accounting fraud, inefficiency and the protection of special interests.…
US HEALTH INSURANCE
By ALAN OSBORN
The number of American people without health insurance rose by 1.4 million to a record 45 million in 2003 the US Census Bureau reports. This appears due to sharply rising costs for health coverage and a continuing fall-off in the number of workers in employer-sponsored health plans.…
NEW COMMISSIONER
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE KEY European Commissioner for Europe’s personnel managers over the next four years will be the Czech Republic’s Vladimir ?pidla, who will become the new European Union (EU) commissioner for employment, social affairs and equal opportunities. Replacing current stand in commissioner Stavros Dimas, of Greece, (who has taken over temporarily from fellow Greek Anna Diamontopoulou), ?pidla…
ISO COMPLAINTS
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has issued a standard, advising managers on how to deal with dissatisfied customers. Global standard ISO 10002 has been designed to enable companies and public services benefit from complaints, while ensuring customers are left as happy as possible.…
FRANCE ERIKA AID
KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has approved state aid made by the French government to Atlantic coast fish farmers following the Erika disaster in 1999, although it has branded illegal handouts to farms elsewhere in France. These subsidies – reductions in social security contribution and other government charges – will have to be paid back, although their exact value is not currently known.…