How to make a choice between two wrongs? This was the main question mark that hovered over the debates at EIOPA Conference in Frankfurt. The two wrongs in question refer to the repeatedly postponed application of new prudential regulations under the Solvency II Directive.

Austerity measures bringing on customer's lowering purchasing power and saving appetence, an ongoing Euro crisis, poor investment results, low interest rates, a changing legal environment ... anybody would say that there was enough pressure on the re/insurance industry for a life time. And anyway ... what could happen worse? Well... it happened: Sandy.

The 2012 edition of the Baden Baden Meeting ends today.
Once again top professionals of the insurance and reinsurance markets worldwide reunited in the German luxurious resort of Baden Baden. Trends, estimations, analysis, opinions ... a strong wave of information was released during the week, of which XPRIMM Publications captured for you the most relevant pieces. As for a possible conclusion, please read the present newsletter.

Just 10 days to go until the official release of the 7th edition of the XPRIMM Insurance Report - CEE, RUSSIA & CIS, SEE!

It started a few weeks ago, in Monte Carlo...
We are not speaking about the famous Formula 1 racing Grand Prix of Monaco, but about the annual grand autumn tour of major insurance events. Yet, this is not a coincidental association. Both the Grand Prix and the major professional events we are talking about are reuniting the top representatives of their specific trade. As for the differences ... let's just say that there are only winners in the professional meeting we are proposing you.

The 2012 edition of the Rendez-vous de Septembre, in Monte Carlo, is ending today.
Joining, as every year, the experts attending the traditional meeting in Monte Carlo, the XPRIMM team kept you to date with the most important opinions and facts, as they were revealed during the professional meetings. And somewhat not surprisingly, this year's meeting ended with mixed impressions.

Shrinking business, improved (or, at least steady) profitability ... seems to be, at first sight, the statement which summarizes the trends registered in the first half of 2012 on the Central and South-Eastern European markets. Or, slightly changing the angle, while most of the markets across the region are doing rather bad in terms of volume, their main players show good results, at least in terms of profitability.

The holidays season is almost over. After visiting amazing places or just lying on the sunny beaches for some days, it is the right time to see what the fall is bringing on the business ground. For insurers and reinsurers, this autumn has a generous offering. Lots of professional events to visit, much information to get, many professional peers to get acquainted with.

It is the right time for a well deserved vacation. So, the editorial staff of XPRIMM News is wishing you a pleasant summer time and invites you to meet us again on August 9th. Till than, take care to the sun burns and to the travel insurance coverage!

Less than two week until the AIIF 2012 start! So, before thinking to the well deserved summer holiday, don't miss the two full business days proposed by the AIIF organizers, which may open for you a promising new growth territory.

Diversity seems to be the dominant impression when analyzing the 2011 results on the CEE and CIS insurance markets, show the data gathered by the latest edition of XPRIMM Insurance Report, recently launched on the occasion of FIAR 2012.

Today we are reaching a new milestone - the 200th issue of XPRIMM News. Covering an ever growing area and permanently trying to look into more depth, XPRIMM News accompanies the development efforts of the European re/insurance industry for eight years. During our 200 meetings we have tried to bring you the most important facts and figures defining the insurance business in the CEE and CIS regions. It is your part to decide whether we succeeded or not!

These days there are two countdowns to keep a close check on:

• 25 days to the FIAR 2012 start
• 15 days to the 200th edition of XPRIMM News

"If an experiment works, something has gone wrong" says one of the most popular of the Murphy's Laws for technicians. And the corollary ads: "It should never be repeated". However, no matter how "realistic" it sounds in many cases for engineers, the Law proved wrong at least for two of the "experiments" started by Media XPRIMM some years ago: FIAR - The International Insurance-Reinsurance Forum, held each year during the last full week of May, in Romania and XPRIMM News, the international bi-weekly insurance newsletter. We call them here "experiments" because each of them, at its starting point, was a premiere in the CEE region, credited by many with little chance of success, or at least viewed by some with a touch of disbelief.

At the time I was preparing to write this column, a new disaster made the headlines on the news streams: a massive earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, triggering a tsunami alert for the Indian Ocean. The quake had a magnitude of 8.7 on Richter scale and across a large area the tremor revived fearful memories of the 2004 catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in the region that killed tens of thousands of people.

It is easy to see, following the news stream, that the CEE insurance market will most probably end 2012 with a sensible different landscape.

As last year's results are known, the well deserved recognition is granted to the best performing players of the world's insurance markets. Insurers, reinsurers, brokers, consultants are all awaiting the judging panel's decisions and hoping they will enjoy their moment in the spotlight.

Even if in some mornings one may still find a thin layer of snow covering the street, winter has lost its power. Nature is ready for a fresh start. Writing from here, in Romania, in the first day of spring, we would like to send you a sign of friendship and also a symbol for "Good luck!" which is traditionally offered in the first day of March, a "Martisor". It may bring you the much needed good humor for a new beginning.

Two major car crashes, involving about 100 damaged cars, that occurred on Wednesday, on the Czech highways are making the headlines all around the world, together with the dramatic summing-up of the victims produced by the heavy winter in Eastern Europe.

Europe is freezing. The extreme weather condition is largely affecting almost the entire continent. A cold snap that has killed dozens of people in Central, Eastern and Southern Europe in the past week is currently spreading to the Western parts of the continent and will probably last for several days. As temperatures dropped to around minus 30 degrees below zero, deaths were reported in Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Serbia and elsewhere.

The winter holiday is already left far behind and 2012 is already carried "full speed ahead". Still, being at the first year's edition of XPRIMM News, let us wish you a fruitful and prosperous year!