Japan crisis no threat to European insurers - EU

suchithkc

FRANKFURT - European insurers face no major threat from the turmoil ensuing from last week's earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the European Union's insurance watchdog said on Thursday.
"From a European viewpoint, the impact is not severe, it is under control and there will be no problem for European insurers or for European insurance solvency," Carlos Montalvo, executive director of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA), told a committee of the European Parliament in comments monitored over the Internet.
"Most of this risk is localised by Japanese companies and by the Japanese government," Montalvo said.
EIOPA's crisis task force had swung quickly into action after Friday's magnitude 9.0 earthquake to assess the exposure of Europe's reinsurers to earthquake, tsunami and fire risks, he said.
Major reinsurers such as Munich Re and Hannover Re have said it is far too early to estimate damage claims from the earthquake, which some analysts have said could cost insurers up to $35 billion, excluding effects from the tsunami.
Regulators also looked at companies' holdings of Japanese equities, which plunged after the quake, as well as exposure to Japanese goverment debt, Montalvo said.