Insurance and financial services company and industry news from the Financial Times

• Greek debt swap pay-out prospect weighed
  Credit event ruling could lead market to worry that other peripherals are heading the same way
  
  
• US business insurance rates rise
  Increases concentrated on properties exposed to weather risk, particularly earthquakes and wind damage, which saw an average 5.7% increase in January
  
  
• India’s global banking dreams confront reality
  For the moment the wings of the country’s lenders are clipped by their balance sheets and a need for urgent recapitalisation
  
  
• Retail customers at heart of FSA crusade
  Crackdown on CPP for alleged mis-selling of identity theft protection is a sign of regulator’s determination to intervene quickly to protect consumers
  
  
• CPP says it could go bust in weeks
  Move follows an investigation by the watchdog into the FTSE 250 company’s sale of credit card and identity protection products in the UK
  
  
• Accident Exchange considers refloat
  The former Aim-quote company settles out of court with insurers over a dispute about vehicle hire charges and eyes a return to the stock market
  
  
• Insurers’ dividends and capital under scrutiny
  Sputtering demand for savings products and record year for catastrophes leave investors paying close attention to the impact on high-yielding stocks
  
  
• Season when words speak louder than actions
  Analysts hopeful for more positive than negative news as the corporate reporting season starts to gather pace
  
  
• Insurers eye Chinese motor market
  Western insurers will gain access to the rapidly growing Rmb300bn ($47.6bn) Chinese motor market after deal reached in US
  
  
• FSA probes ‘death bonds’ group with Lib Dem link
  A company linked to Lord Razzall is facing possible enforcement action by the financial regulator in connection with the sale of offshore ‘death bonds’
  
  
• Aegon agrees life expectancy swap deal
  Dutch insurer in transaction with Deutsche Bank to cover €12bn of reserves, protecting it if lifespans increase faster than actuarial projections
  
  
• Machiavellian corporate princes resist Monti reforms
  If proof were needed of the distorting effects of Italian relationship capitalism, regulators need only to look at the case of Premafin and Unipol
  
  
• Insurers’ earnings hit by eurozone crisis
  Full-year results of Axa and Zurich Financial Services fall shy of expectations as a result of natural catastrophes and low demand for life products
  
  
• ‘The focus on qualifications means I might not get a job’
  Interview: The boss of Axa UK fears a reliance on exam results could isolate future leaders
  
  
• MetLife eager to use reserve capital
  Shares hit a four-month high after the insurer says it is preparing to return capital or make acquisitions once Fed oversight ends
  
  
• AIG buys back old mortgage securities
  US insurer buys back some of the same bundled mortgage securities that it sold to the US government as part of its financial crisis bail-out
  
  
• Private sector role explored for insuring NHS
  The Department of Health is exploring how insurers could help bring down the rising bill for clinical negligence
  
  
• Paulson calls for Hartford split
  The billionaire investor has taken public his efforts to get The Hartford Financial Services Group to split into two companies
  
  
• Rebranded RBS unit shapes up for flotation
  With a new name Royal Bank of Scotland’s insurance arm edges nearer to a multi-billion pound stock market launch
  
  
• Lloyd’s braced for Thailand tsunami costs
  Munich Re figures show that 2011 was costliest year on record relating to earthquakes and weather-related disasters