Reinsurance

Foreign reinsurers may be permitted to post less collateral when doing business in New Jersey with legislation signed by Gov. Chris Christie that gives regulators the ability to cut previous full-collateral requirements.

Last year was a costly one in terms of dollars and human life as insurers saw catastrophe losses increase by 59 percent from the previous year, according to a Swiss Re report.

Standard and Poor’s has revised its outlook on nine Japanese insurers due to the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, while Moody’s says current loss estimates by two reinsurers are credit negative for that sector.

Arch Reinsurance Ltd. has become the 12th foreign reinsurer to be approved in Florida to post reduced collateral.

Despite its devastation, Japan’s earthquake will not have a global impact on insurance rates, but the cumulative effect of a series of catastrophes and changes in modeling will likely produce rate increases in some sectors, according to a report from Towers Watson.

The Tohoku earthquake in Japan was a seismological “black swan”—an event beyond the realm of regular expectations, according to catastrophe-risk modelers.