National Bank of Greece (NBG) expects to sell its subsidiary National Insurance this year and plans other sales as part of its restructuring, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Matt Fairfield's (re)insurance start-up Exin Partners has struck a deal to buyout AIG's interest in AIG Greece in a deal worth upwards of EUR100mn ($104mn), The Insurance Insider can reveal.

National Bank of Greece aims to have the binding bids for the sale of its subsidiary Ethniki Insurance within the first quarter of 2017. According to the group's commitment in its restructuring plan, the sale must take place in the first half of next year, but bank sources say the process will begin in January.

The Greek insurers reported gross written premiums of EUR 2.79 billion in 3Q2016, up by 1.3% y-o-y, according to a quarterly report published by the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (HAIC).

Greeks lost 30 percent of their wealth since 2007, while in the rest of western Europe households are much better off economically in 2015 than in 2007, a report says.

The Greek insurers member of HAIC - Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies, reported a GWP of EUR 1.88 billion in the first half of 2016, or 5% less y-o-y, according to the half year report published on HAIC's website.

PIRAEUS Bank, Greece's biggest lender, has completed the sale of its ATE Insurance business to ERGO Group - part of German reinsurer MUNICH Re - for EUR 90.1 million. The transaction makes ERGO the largest property-casualty insurer in the market, and the price is subject to net asset value adjustments, ERGO said in a statement.

At the end of March 2016, the Greek insurance market totaled EUR 948.57 million, down by 5.7% y-o-y, according to the preliminary market figures published by the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (HAIC). The life insurance segment decreased by 10% y-o-y, to EUR 456.68 million, while the non-life business line dropped by 1.2% to EUR 491.89 million.

The Bank of Greece has rejected the proposed acquisition of the local life insurance operations of France's Credit Agricole by Bulgaria's Euroins Insurance Group (EIG) due to solvency capital issues of the buyer's subsidiary in Romania.

The state of New York has 1,500 communities that participate in the National Flood Insurance Program, but only 32 currently participate in the Community Rating System and none rank better than Class 7. Supervisor Bill Reilich says the Town of Greece is the only local municipality in Monroe County that participates in the National Flood Insurance Community Rating System Program, and has received a reduction in its Class rating from 8 to 7 providing additional savings for taxpayers.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has purchased a 15% stake in the Greek insurance firm European Reliance.

Greece's Piraeus Bank will sell part of its 28 percent stake in insurer European Reliance to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a Piraeus official said on Wednesday. Piraeus, Greece's largest lender by assets, plans to divest the entire stake as part of a restructuring plan which entails the disposal of non-core assets.

George KOTSALOS is stepping down as Chief Executive Officer at INTERAMERICAN Greece during the course of this year, the Dutch mother company ACHMEA annouced a week ago. "The year in which he turns 65", ACHMEA said in the statement.

The situation in the industry in Greece looks as though the trend is to continue slipping. Last year, the insurance market in Greece took a significant hit as the number of people in the country who cashed in savings based policies broke all previous records of that nature.
That trend revealed a solid decline of the state of the insurance industry within the country.

The number of people who cashed in savings-based insurance policies early reached a record high in 2015, owing to the drop in disposable incomes that led to many being able to keep up with the payments, according to data seen by Kathimerini.

The Greek insurance market has lost around 1.85 billion euros during the crisis, according to Ioannis Votsaridis, chief executive of Interlife. "The market is falling since 2008. Total loss is very big. The car insurance sector has lost 48 pct in the 2010-2015 period, the life insurance sector around 24 pct and the damage sector around 39 pct...I believe that the sector will find it very difficult to regain its losses as intense competition drives insurance rates lower," he said.

At the end of December 2015, the Greek insurance market totaled EUR 3.57 billion, down by 5.8% y-o-y, according to the preliminary market figures published by the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (HAIC).

Fairfax Financial Holdings Chief Executive Prem Watsa said on Friday that he sees investment opportunities in Greece if the crisis-hit country proceeded with reforms.

Credit Agricole, the French bank giant which ended its commercial presence in Greece around three years ago when it sold Emporiki Bank to Alpha Bank, is returning to Greece, this time as a major shareholder in Alpha Bank.

The Greek insurers reported gross written premiums of EUR 2.72 billion in 3Q2015, down by 3.6% y-o-y, according to a quarterly report published by the Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies (HAIC). Non-life insurance GWP accounted for 51% of the total - EUR 1.38 billion, or 8% less y-o-y, while the life insurance sector was up by 1.4%, reaching EUR 1.33 billion (49% of total insurance market).