Risk & Insurance

John Chen, 58, is taking over as the interim CEO of BlackBerry, the Canadian mobile-phone company that only four years ago was one of the fastest-growing technology companies in North America and is now fighting for survival. But what he can achieve there is anybody’s guess.

MILESTONES By Paula L Green It doesn’t seem to matter how rich a country may be. Or the number of people residing within its borders. Even the landmass of a nation or its geographic locale can’t predict a country’s ability ...

RISK MANAGEMENT By Karen Kroll Corporate life and pensions insurance is regaining strength as economic conditions improve. The US market for corporate- and bank-owned life insurance (COLI and BOLI, respectively) and corporate supplemental pension plans—or “top hat” plans—are once again ...

WALKING A FINE LINE   By Paula L Green   As civil unrest continues to flare up in disparate markets worldwide, corporate risk managers must be aware of the impact that sanctions and regulatory changes can have on their political ...

MILESTONES   By Valentina Pasquali   With an estimated €500 million ($660 million) of the European Union budget lost to fraud every year, the European Commission is now pushing for the creation of a new European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) ...

NEWSMAKERS   By Grace Yuan   A year ago, Eike Batista was one of the richest men in the world. Edging in at number seven on Forbes’ World Billionaires list and renowned for his flamboyant lifestyle, Batista was at the ...

STAYING ON THE ATTACK   By Paula Green   Companies must beef up their cybersecurity coverage as the risk of disruption continues to skyrocket.   Multinationals’ dependence on insurance to cover the risk of cyberattacks is expanding in line with ...

STICKING TO THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW   By Karen Kroll   Companies continue to bank on safety and security in managing liquidity and investments.   At the end of this year’s first quarter, cash and short-term investment balances among the ...

CFO INTERVIEW — A GLOBAL VIEW   By Denise Bedell   Nick Fanandakis, EVP and CFO of global agriculture, industrial bioscience and advanced materials company DuPont, sat down with Global Finance to discuss the firm’s growth strategy, resource allocation and ...

ON AN EVEN KEEL By Al Modugno   Despite historic catastrophic events over the past two years, reinsurance rates have remained relatively steady, saving primary insurance providers—and thus corporate buyers—from higher costs.   With even a hint of any potential ...

UNLOCKING HIDDEN POTENTIAL By Anita Hawser and Paula L. Green   Global Finance presents the winners of its annual awards for the Best Supply Chain Finance Providers globally and by region.   Five years have passed since the global financial ...

WAITING FOR THE RENAISSANCE   By Gordon Platt   Egypt’s elections promised much in terms of building a modern and democratic state. But the realities of governing for the Muslim Brotherhood are proving more difficult than initially thought—and some economic ...

A DEFINING MOMENT   By Anita Hawser   Global Finance presents the winners of its awards for the World’s Best Islamic Financial Insititutions 2013.   With Islamic banking assets predicted to pass the $1.1 trillion mark in 2012 and Islamic ...

ODD MAN OUT   By Dan Keeler   One of the few frontier markets to adopt the euro, Estonia has proved to be a beacon of hope in a region of uncertainty.   Estonia is on a healthy trajectory. Economic ...

BUILDING IN RESILIENCE   By Karen Kroll   Creating a flexible, robust supply chain is key to reducing the likelihood and potential impact of disruptions.   Effectively managing supply chain risk, while always important, is becoming increasingly critical. Companies are ...

PROTECTING THE BALANCE SHEET   By Paula Green   Companies using trade credit insurance to secure their bottom lines are finding a marketplace with ample capacity, expanding terms—and even new players.   Photo Credits: IGOR PLOTNIKOV / Shutterstock.com Trade credit ...

SEEKING CONSISTENCY   By Paula Green   Multinationals struggle to manage business risks—such as political, reputational and tax risks—and insurance issues, as they expand their emerging markets footprint. And some of those risks are on the rise.   Ace Hardware ...

SHARING RISK     By Anita Hawser Takaful insurance markets are growing steadily in the Gulf, but the regulatory framework is still developing in some countries.   Taking out car, property or life insurance is second nature in the West, ...

MOUNTING PERILS   By Al Modugno   Global executive risks are mushrooming in the midst of charges around Libor rate fixing and an explosion of M&A legal suits.   The Libor scandal involving rate-rigging has triggered widespread investigations of major ...

AUTOMATIC RESPONSE   By Paula Green   Recent natural disasters have shown that in times of crisis, having a robust crisis management plan that kicks in automatically—and a team to implement it—can make all the difference when it comes to ...