Zurich Financial Services Group is a major financial services group based in Zurich, Switzerland. Image File history File links Zurich_Financial. ... A public company usually refers to a company which is permitted to offer its securities (stock, bonds, etc. ... Year 1872 (MDCCCLXXII) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a leap year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... Location within Switzerland   Zürich[?] (German pronunciation IPA: ; usually spelled Zurich in English) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 366,145 in 2004; population of urban area: 1,091,732) and capital of the canton of Zürich. ... Financial services is a term used to refer to the services provided by the finance industry. ... Revenue is a U.S. business term for the amount of money that a company earns from its activities in a given period, mostly from sales of products and/or services to customers. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... Look up slogan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A website (alternatively, Web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos and other digital assets that is hosted on a Web server, usually accessible via the Internet or a LAN. A Web page is a document, typically written in HTML, that is almost always accessible via HTTP, a... Financial services is a term used to refer to the services provided by the finance industry. ... Location within Switzerland   Zürich[?] (German pronunciation IPA: ; usually spelled Zurich in English) is the largest city in Switzerland (population: 366,145 in 2004; population of urban area: 1,091,732) and capital of the canton of Zürich. ...

Global operations

North America

The US consumer market is served primarily by Farmers Insurance [1], the third largest personal lines property & casualty insurance group in America. Founded in 1928, the Farmers Exchanges and their subsidiaries, which are Zurich managed but not Zurich owned, operate in 41 states through a network of 17,000 exclusive agents and 1,100 independent agents.

The Chicago-based Zurich North America Commercial [2] is the third largest provider of commercial property-casualty insurance in North America, serving small business, mid-size markets and large corporate customers. In 2005, Zurich North America Commercial produced gross written premiums of USD 12.5 billion.

Europe

In Europe, Zurich's key markets are the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain.

International

Zurich's International Businesses division includes operations in Latin America, Asia Pacific and Southern Africa.

Scale

Today Zurich has offices in more than 60 countries and employs about 70,000 people worldwide. In 2005, Zurich increased its business operating profit (BOP) by 32% to USD 3,947 million.

Criticism

Zurich Financial Services settled a $171 million case relating to bid-rigging and price fixing. ^[1] "Businesses shopping for commercial insurance were deceived into believing they were getting the best deals available," said Abbott. "The whole anti-competitive scheme was an intentional smoke screen by several insurance players to artificially inflate premiums and pay improper commissions to those who brokered the deals." The states included in the settlement were Texas, California, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Oregon, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Zurich is also required to pay about $122 million ^[2] in refunds to commercial policyholders in a New Jersey class action lawsuit ^[3] settlement.

Zurich Financial Services settled a bid-rigging and improper "finite reinsurance" transactions probe. ^[4] Zurich Financial agreed to pay 153 million in restitution and penalties and agreed to a series of reforms. Zurich apologized and acknowledged that "certain of its employees violated both acceptable business practices and Zurich's own standards of conduct by engaging in improper bidding practices and the ‘finite reinsurance’ transactions described in the Assurance of Discontinuance." The states included in the settlement were New York, Connecticut and Illinois.

See also

• European Financial Services Roundtable

The European Financial Services Roundtable (EFSR) is a European organization, located in Brussels, Belgium, of financial service companies to provide a voice on policies of the European Union related to financial matters. ...

References

1. ^ Zurich, 9 States Settle Bid-Rigging Case for $171 Million : "Texas and eight other states have reached a $171 million settlement with Zurich American Insurance Co. relating to bid-rigging and price-fixing in the commercial insurance market."
2. ^ Zurich American Implements Reforms, Pays Consumers Millions
3. ^ Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litigation Zurich Settlement : "This website provides general information on the Zurich class action settlement ."
4. ^ Zurich Settles Bid-Rigging Probe : "Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and State Insurance Department Superintendent Howard Mills today announced an agreement with one of the world’s largest insurance companies to resolve allegations of bid-rigging and improper "finite reinsurance" transactions.."

External links

• Zurich Financial Services website

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