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.
MOTOR INSURANCE - UK
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE BRITISH government is under pressure from the European Commission to reform its motor insurance legislation, so that compensation is paid to victims of property damage caused by stolen vehicles whose driver cannot be identified.
Brussels has sent a formal request to London requesting that UK legislation allows for such payments, claiming it has a duty to act under the European Union’s (EU) Second Motor Insurance Directive (84/5/EEC) and threatening legal action at the European Court of Justice if it does not.…
PEDESTRIAN SAFETY
BY ALAN OSBORN
A PROPOSED European Union (EU) directive forcing car manufacturers to re-design cars so that pedestrians and cyclists suffer less severe injuries in collisions with vehicles has been generally welcomed by the insurance industry, though with some reservations. The planned legislation would, among other things, compel manufacturers to bring in new bonnet and bumper designs aimed at significantly reducing the severity of injury in accidents with motor vehicles at speeds up to 40 kph (about 25 mph).…
ICC FRAUD GUIDE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE INTERNATIONAL Chamber of Commerce has published a guide alerting financial services businesses about how to avoid falling victim to fraud. Preventing Financial Instrument Fraud describes danger signals, explaining how frauds are mounted and the psychological manipulation upon which they are based.…
PIRACY AND COUNTERFEITING
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has proposed wide-ranging reforms to the European Union’s (EU) anti-counterfeiting and piracy legislation, which would toughen national laws against this problem across the continent.
If it is accepted by the EU Council of Ministers, this proposed directive on intellectual property rights would require all Member States to allow injunctions halting the sale of counterfeit goods, precautionary seizures of suspected offenders’ bank accounts, give evidence-gathering powers to judicial authorities and force offenders to pay damages to right holders to compensate for lost income.…
ENVIRONMENTAL LIABILITY
BY ALAN OSBORN
EUROPEAN insurance companies have raised practical objections to a proposed amendment to an EU directive on environmental liability that would make insurance compulsory five years after the directive comes into force. The directive, proposed a year ago, would seek to reduce environmental pollution under three headings – bio-diversity, water, and damage causing serious potential or actual harm to public health via soil or sub-soil contamination.…
MEDICAL EXPENSES
BY KEITH NUTHALL
TRAVEL insurance companies have been saved from additional exposure to risk within the European Union (EU) by a European Court of Justice ruling underlining the right of all EU citizens to receive free medical care in whatever Member State they happen to be living or visiting.…
ITALY COMPULSORY INSURANCE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE EUROPEAN Commission has won a case at the European Court of Justice which declares illegal any intervention by national European Union governments to limit the liberty of motor insurance companies to set the price of their premiums.…
DUE DILIGENCE
BY KEITH NUTHALL
FINANCIAL institutions, including insurance companies, have a deepening awareness for the need to check the honesty of their potential business partners, claims the International Chamber of Commerce. Indeed, the number of banks requesting due diligence checks from its Commercial Crime Bureau (CCB) in 2002, went up 51 per cent over the previous year, it said.…
CYBER SECURITY AGENCY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
THE CREATION of a European Network and Information Security Agency – coordinating European Union (EU) efforts to defend its telecommunications and IT against cybercrime – has been proposed by the European Commission.
It wants a central agency to provide assistance to national computer emergency response teams, for instance by providing advice, such as on the interoperability of IT security systems and providing advice.…
COUNTERFEITING AND PIRACY
BY KEITH NUTHALL
IT is a rule of thumb that when trade grows, so does crime. So it is no surprise that counterfeiters have taken advantage of the growth in commerce within the European Union to sell an increasing number of fake goods.…