While most of the insurance risk headlines center around natural disasters, political risks can often have equally damaging effects on the sector.

According to Aon Risk Solutions latest Political Risk Map which was released on Wednesday, the political tension coming from the Arab Spring remains a key concern for companies with operations in the area.

The company performed a survey of 167 countries and territories measuring the risk level of exchange transfer, sovereign non-payment, political interference, supply chain disruption, legal and regulatory, and political violence.

If found that the countries recently involved in the Arab Spring had the highest amount of risk.

“These uprisings and protests remain a key concern in 2012 and we see this reflected in rating downgrades of several countries,” said Roger Schwartz, senior vice president of political risk for Aon Risk Solutions Crisis Management Practice.

“This is forcing CEOs and CFOs of businesses with overseas operations in emerging markets to revisit risk management and risk mitigation measures.”

The other key political risk outlined in the report was the upcoming elections in the US, France, Russia and China will also potentially contribute to greater global uncertainty.

The eurozone debt crisis was another significant risk.

According to Aon, the risk map “provides an indication of overall levels and types of political risk, which relates to the actions or inactions of foreign governments, including third-party countries which may deprive a business of its assets, prevent or restrict the performance of a contract and affect repayment of loans to financing banks.”

Each country is given a rating according to the different types of risk it faces. In this yea

Read more…

Is Vikram S. Pandit the anti-Jamie Dimon?

Speaking to a packed ballroom at the Waldorf hotel in Manhattan on Wednesday, Mr. Pandit, the chief executive of Citigroup, championed an idea that most Wall Street titans would shun: regulation is good.

Banks, he said, deserved new rules after Wall Street nearly collapsed in 2008. “There needed to be changes,” Mr. Pandit told analysts, investors and fellow bankers at the Citi Financial Services Conference.

And changes they got. Congress passed a broad regulatory overhaul in 2010, named the Dodd-Frank Act, which reined in lax lending standards, risky trading and the complex derivatives market.

In response to a question from the audience about the toll such sprawling new regulations would take on Wall Street, Mr. Pandit said he supported “a lot” of the regulatory crackdown.

Jamie Dimon, the top boss at JPMorgan Chase, has not been so warm and fuzzy.

Mr. Dimon’s

Read more…

One of my financial goals is to build charity into my annual budget. Last year, as of mid-December, I had not given a penny to the less fortunate—not even a coin dropped into one of those convenience store Lucite boxes adorned with a picture of a child.

I have a dollar figure Id like to donate, but my mind is overwhelmed with what to do with it. While I am all about selfless giving, I feel the urge to give now in order to take advantage of the tax breaks charity affords Americans. In the spirit of altruism, I remind myself that the more you give, the more you get.

It turns out that I am not alone in my quest to give. Americans are increasingly generous this year. In fact, 29 percent more U.S. households planned to increase their giving in 2011 over 2010, according to fundraising research consultancy Dunham and Company.

But even if you find you can afford to give to a good cause, it can be overwhelming to figure out where to donate. I

Read more…

The longer-term outlook for Britain’s economy is reasonably positive, according to a recent statement by Bank of England deputy governor Charles Bean. Despite an anticipated stagnation in the first few months of 2012, things should begin to look up by the end of the year and we can look forward to a ‘moderate’ economic recovery.

“Despite the recent more encouraging signs, we continue to expect growth to remain sluggish in the first half of the year,” said Bean. “But while growth should gradually strengthen, the continuing headwinds from the unwinding of excessive debt and the government’s continuing fiscal consolidation mean that the pace of recovery is likely to remain moderate by historic standards.”

In the meantime, many UK households are feeling the squeeze, thanks to a rise in living costs coupled with salary freezes and an increase in unemployment. And the attitud Read more…