PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES

Couverture des risques catastrophiques potentiels :Vers une théorie économique de l’assurabilité en incertitude
Sophie Chemarin                                                                                                    

La notion d’événement face à la destruction des tours jumelles du World Trade Center le 11 septembre 2001
Rémi Moreau                                                                                                          

L’évolution de la concentration dans l’industrie de l’assurance au Canada et au Québec
Gilles Bernier                                                                                                          

Le transport des matières dangereuses : Un enjeu majeur pour la sécurité civile
Agathe Chaumont et Jean-Bernard Guindon                                                            

An overview of the market for credit risk transfer
Martin Boyer et Nicolas Papageorgiou                                                                   

Systèmes de gestion de la santé et sécurité au travail : des solutions reconnues afin de gérer le risque et de faire preuve de diligence raisonnable
Groupe-conseil Aon                                                                                                

Services de planification de la retraite : un apprentissage durable à valeur ajoutée
Groupe-conseil Aon                                                                                                

Jugements d’intérêt en matière d’assurance
Rémi Moreau

Current Events
under the responsibility of Rémi Moreau

1. L’Autorité des marchés financiers conclut une entente avec la Chambre de l’assurance de dommages (ChAD)
2. L’ancien PDG de AIG et la société elle-même sont accusés de malversations
3. Aon a un nouveau grand patron
4. Les résultats nets Munich Re en hausse
5. Les profits du Lloyd’s ont diminué en 2004
6. La Chine, une terre d’accueil pour les assureurs étrangers –
7. L’affaire Executive Life enfin résolue : Artémis, le holding du groupe Pinault, est trouvé en partie coupable mais son président François Pinault est blanchi
8. La holding financière de Axa appelée à disparaître
9. Étude globale sur les zones menacées de la planète

Summary on Reports about Insurance and Risk Management

1. LA BANCASSURANCE – Stratégies et perspectives en France et en Europe,
Alain Borderie, Michel Lafitte, Revue Banque Édition, 2004, 273 pages –
2. RISQUES, NO 60 – Octobre-Décembre 2004.– 3. DÉVELOPPEMENTS
RÉCENTS EN DROIT DES ASSURANCES, Service de la formation permanente
du Barreau du Québec 2005, Volume 222, Éditions Yvon Blais, 211 pages –
4. BHOPAL – La pire catastrophe industrielle de tous les temps, Jacques Charbonnier, Éditions Préventique, 2004, 141 pages - 5. SAAQ – Bilan 1993-2003 –
6. LES ASSURANCES DE DOMMAGES AU CANADA – 2004 – Bureau
d’assurance du Canada – 7. DOMICILES DES CAPTIVES EN 2004 –
Business Insurance – 7 mars 2005

The Internet Surfer Page

Elliott Special Risks Ltd.

Couverture des risques catastrophiques potentiels : Vers une théorie économique de l’assurabilité en incertitude
Sophie Chemarin

The purpose of this article is to develop a new approach of the current discussion on the insurance on the “new risks”. It makes a point on the notions of risk and uncertainty in order to propose an alternative interpretation of this new risks universe. The article then goes on to evaluate the insurability criteria in uncertainty and studies the question of the emerging financial tools to cover large scale ambiguous risks. Lastly, it concludes by defining an “uncertainty management” and lays the foundations of an economic theory of insurability in such context.

Keywords: Uncertainty, catastrophic risks, insurance, mutualization, precautionnary principle, sustainable development.

Classification : JEL : D8, G1, G2

La notion d’événement face à la destruction des tours jumelles du World Trade Center le 11 septembre 2001
Rémi Moreau

After a jury’s partial verdict rendered April 30, 2004 denying Silverstein Properties Inc. a potential double recovery from eleven World Trade Center property insurers, World Trade Center leaseholder Silverstein Properties Inc. suffered another major setback in litigation over the WTC’s insurance coverage when a jury found May 4, 2004 that Swiss Reinsurance Co. was bound on a policy form requiring it to pay out only $877.5 million, rather than the $1.76 billion the real estate company was seeking from the insurer. The court has ruled that under the definitions included in the so-called Wilprop form, used by the twelve insurers, the two towers attack is viewed as one occurrence.

In last November, in the second trial against 9 others insurers with more than $1 billion worth of per occurrence coverage, the jury concluded last December that insurers were bounded by a policy known as the Travelers form, which makes it easier to claim that the attack - with two planes hitting the two towers at two different times - constituted two occurrences, entitling Silverstein Properties Inc. to two payments of 1,1 billion per occurrence.

Inspired by this trial, the author tries to define the notion of “occurrence” in the context of Quebec law applying to insurance contracts. As the word “occurrence” is specifically defined in the insurance contract, the scope and the limit of coverage are determined by the contract definition of each insurer. In the absence of such wording or in case of doubt, the contract should be interpreted in favour of the insured.

Keywords: Occurrence, gradual loss, terrorism.

An overview of the market for credit risk transfer
Martin Boyer and Nicolas Papageorgiou

In a previous article in Assurances et gestion des risques, Boyer and Papageorgiou (2004) discussed the implications of the new Basel accord to credit risk management. In this column, we will look at the financial markets and instruments that have been developed in order to satisfy the ever growing demand for credit risk management tools. We will describe the main credit derivatives and structured products that have become increasingly important in financial markets, and provide some insights into the latest trends in credit risk.