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– Fines set to rise further next year as new penalties policy bites

– Tip of the iceberg as financial services firms spend unseen hundreds of millions in additional compliance work defending themselves against FSA investigations

The FSA handed down a record breaking £88.4m in fines in 2010 (to December 20), eclipsing the record it set last year of £34.8m by 154%, says City law firm Reynolds Porter Chamberlain LLP (RPC).

RPC says that the record fines are clear evidence that the FSA’s more intrusive regulatory approach is hitting firms hard.

Comments Jonathan Davies, of RPC, “The FSA has been much more aggressive this year. The FSA has had new political masters to impress this year but we may have reached the point where this level of regulation could be having a negative effect on the financial services sector.”

RPC says that:

– The number of fines handed out by the FSA more than doubled to 88 from 40 last year

– The average size of fine was up 15.5% to £1,005,000 from £870,000

– The number of large £1m+ fines increased from 8 to 13

Fines set to rise further next year as new penalties policy bites

RPC says that the fines are set to rise next year as a new FSA penalties policy bites.  In March the FSA introduced a new policy which increased the fines for businesses and individuals.* The change only affects conduct which happened after the new policy was introduced so very few 2010 fines will have been charged under the new regime.

Jonathan Davies says: “The FSA handed down record fines this year, but with more cases coming through its new financial penalty policy in the year ahead, it looks like the FSA could break its enforcement record yet again.”

“The FSA fines have been escalating without this new policy and financial services firms will want to know when the FSA will reach a limit.”

“Such has been the radical change in the FSA’s activity over the last two years that it would be useful to know just how far the government wants the FSA to go in terms of piling on the pain for the financial services sector.”

“With two new regulators set to replace the FSA, each with its own enforcement department, will the Prudential Regulation Authority and the Consumer Protection and Markets Authority be competing to impose the higher fines?”

Fines just the tip of the iceberg

Jonathan Davies adds: “The amount of fines handed down by the FSA this year is just the tip of the iceberg.  The vast majority of firms never get fined by the FSA but there is a huge cost for many of them in defending investigations by the FSA.  Often those investigations are dropped without any further action because there has been no wrong-doing, as with the FSA investigation of RBS’s management decisions during the run-up to its bail out in the financial crisis.”

According to RPC, the controversy over the FSA’s decision not to publish the results of its investigation into RBS has revealed how FSA enforcement investigations often fail to find any evidence of wrongdoing.

Comments Jonathan Davies: “Unlike in formal legal proceedings, there is no possibility of firms recovering the costs of defending themselves successfully when they are investigated by the FSA.  With the regulator taking a highly aggressive approach, regulated firms are very concerned about this hidden and unaccountable burden.”

Big costs for insurers
Jonathan Davies add: “Many regulated firms and their senior management now regard it as essential to pay for insurance against the cost of defending themselves against FSA investigations.  Whilst fines cannot be covered by insurance, legal defence costs are regularly insured.  The increased number and complexity of investigations increases the bill for insurers.”

Source : Reynolds Porter Chamberlain Press Release

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Bristol-based National Mobile Windscreens has signed a contract to become the exclusive vehicle glass supplier for Complectus, which provides fixed cost insurance solutions for AXA Assistance.

Complectus, based at Redhill in Surrey, has launched a new insurance plan mainly for the fleet market covering the cost of repair or replacement of vehicle glass for both accident and vandalism damage. The glass insurance policy also can be bought by private individuals, who do not have glass cover included in their motor insurance policy or who have a high excess payable on glass claims.
“We wanted a glass supplier that understands and meets the demanding requirements of the fleet sector,” says Complectus managing director Peter Powell. “National Mobile Windscreens was selected as the preferred supplier based on its excellent reputation, full [United Kingdom] coverage and ability to assist our policyholders 24 hours a day, every day of the year.”

Source : Glassbytes

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Hannover Re reached agreement on the sale of all operational companies of its US subsidiary Clarendon Insurance Group, Inc., New York, to the Bermuda-based Enstar Group Ltd., Hamilton. The purchase price is in the order of USD 200 million. This is equivalent to roughly 80% of the statutory equity of Clarendon.

The sale of Clarendon offers clear benefits for both contracting parties: the transaction affords relief to Hannover Re’s balance sheet and frees up cash. What is more, the sale reduces the level of reinsurance recoverables. The Enstar Group, which specialises in the run-off of insurance and reinsurance companies, will for its part have the opportunity to run this portfolio off profitably through economies of scale.

“With the sale of Clarendon we are parting with a subsidiary that has been in run-off since 2005 and thereby freeing up resources that can be used to further grow our core business”, Chief Executive Officer Ulrich Wallin explained. Hannover Re had already parted with its active US primary insurance business in 2006 through the sale of Praetorian, for which it obtained a purchase price of USD 800 million at that time.

By disposing of Clarendon Hannover Re is also able, most significantly, to free itself from the operational risks associated with the run-off of a US insurer and from the considerable administrative expenses that would have been incurred in subsequent years. These future savings explain the mark-down on the company’s book value. Also for this reason, in particular, the sale of Clarendon will cause a strain on the result in the current year – in an amount probably running into the mid-double-digit million euro range. The company nevertheless expects to be able to offset this from the profit on ordinary activities.

In terms of Group net income, it remains Hannover Re’s expectation that a post-tax profit of more than EUR 700 million can be generated for 2010.

The transaction is still subject to customary regulatory approvals. The closing is anticipated in the second quarter of 2011.

J.P. Morgan Securities acted as exclusive financial advisor to Hannover Re on this transaction.

Source : Hannover Re Press Release

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Automobiles — whether economy cars or the top luxury models — are rapidly becoming safer to drive, an insurance industry trade group said.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety released its Top Safety Pick ratings for the 2011 model year Tuesday, saying 66 vehicles, including 40 cars and 25 sport utility vehicles, earned the group’s highest safety ranking.

That’s more than double the 27 vehicles that achieved the group’s top safety grade at the start of this year. Big improvements to roofs to protect passengers in rollover accidents contributed to a greater number of vehicles’ achieving better rankings.

“That gives consumers shopping for a safer new car or SUV plenty of choices to consider in most dealer showrooms,” said Adrian Lund, the institute’s president. “In fact, every major automaker has at least one winning model this year.”

The entire list can be found at the institute’s website at http:http://www.iihs.org/ratings/default.aspx. The institute has 191 vehicles rated on its website.

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Guy Carpenter and Willis Re are working alongside Aon Benfield as placement advisors to a new sudden oil spill consortium, which aims to deliver larger liability limit coverage for deepwater drilling in U.S. waters. All energy retail brokers will be able to access the facility, SOSCover, on behalf of their clients.

Aon Benfield has agreed to manage the consortium, which expands on the initial concept announced by Munich Re at the 2010 Monte Carlo Rendez-Vous and involves the re/insurance markets working together to deliver a new product that brings significantly larger limits than have previously been available for U.S. deepwater drilling.

Munich Re along with other re/insurers is in the process of committing significant capacity to this new insurance class.  The sudden oil spill consortium will work alongside the oil industry to deliver a solution that will help ensure that the product will deliver coverage that is of value, and limits on a per well basis that have not been available before in the marketplace.

Grahame Chilton, Chairman of Aon Benfield, said: “It is terrific to see the re/insurance industry working together to deliver a solution at a time of customer demand and need.  Munich Re helped enormously with the initial concept for the liability product, and now other leading industry players and the oil industry will assist in the development of the terms and conditions of the sudden oil spill facility, SOSCover.”

Torsten Jeworrek, Member of Munich Re’s Board of Management, added: “It was clear from the very beginning that substantial capacity can only be provided by a joint effort of the international re/insurance industry.  We are very happy that the broker community will promote the project and help to gather the necessary capacity.  With Aon Benfield, Guy Carpenter and Willis Re, we found the perfect partners with the expertise, the resources as well as the contacts to realize such a huge project.  The broker community can be assured that we will give support wherever necessary.”

Source : Aon Benfield Press Release

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A total of 71% of us admit we do not know what the drink-drive limit is and could end up being accidental criminals.

Some 14% of people will drink and drive this Christmas, with one in five saying they simply cannot be bothered to walk home, according to confused.com. While drink driving can risk lives, it has major financial consequences too. Being caught over the legal limit could see you slapped with a fine of up £5,000 or a 12-month disqualification from driving. It could even land you a six-month prison sentence.

And, if those risks haven’t sobered you up, a conviction adds up to 40% on car insurance premiums over the first year and can cost an extra £2,400 over five years.

Confused.com’s Will Thomas says: “A drink-driving offence can more than double a driver’s premiums or prevent them from being able to obtain ­insurance at all.”

The legal limit is 80 miligrammes of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood.

Source : Daily  Mirror

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Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corporation, has licensed ReMetrica – its flagship capital modeling tool – to Q-Re, a leading Middle East reinsurer. ReMetrica will enable the reinsurer to enhance its Enterprise Risk Management framework by developing a sophisticated capital model. Q-Re will initially use ReMetrica for its inwards reinsurance pricing and outwards reinsurance optimization.

Dermot Dick, CEO of Q-Re, said: “Working with Aon Benfield has helped us to understand how sophisticated capital modeling will add value to the way we operate and conduct business. This is the first time we have used a capital modeling tool and we opted for ReMetrica as it is easy to use and can be set up very quickly, with the team on hand for support.”

Sunnie Luthra, Director of Aon Benfield Analytics in the Middle East, added: “The Middle East re/insurance industry is waking up to capital modeling and Q-Re is among the growing number of companies to recognize the value of using ReMetrica.”

Source : Aon Benfield Press Release

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Men are more likely to take out health insurance and consider it as important while people in Scotland are least likely to prioritise it, according to a new survey.

The findings from Health365 could challenge the perception that women are more concerned about looking after their health.

It found that nearly a quarter of men have health cover compared with only 15% of women and that nearly half of all men have had health insurance at some point in their lives, whereas only a third of women have held a policy.

The survey questioned people on their attitudes to health insurance, its perceived cost and what obstacles they faced in accessing cover and revealed how negative perceptions were putting people off taking out a policy.

Perhaps most worryingly for the industry, health insurance (12%) only ranked above pet (5%) and mobile phone (2%) insurance in terms of importance, while lagging well behind home contents (46%) and life (23%) and on a par with travel cover.

Almost two thirds of respondents (61%) viewed health insurance as expensive or a luxury and a quarter (23%) believed it was complicated and confusing.

This was exemplified by 62% of respondents being either very or quite put off buying the product by its cost, while 82% said they thought health insurers mainly used their profits to give bonuses to directors or pay shareholders.

And more than 40% of those polled thought it would take at least a day to get a health insurance quotation
The propensity to buy health insurance was also strongly governed by geography.

Just 4% of people in Scotland cited it as the most important type of insurance from a list including home contents, life and mobile phone insurance.

However, four times as many in London and the South East believed a health insurance policy should take precedence over the likes of pet and travel insurance.

Paul Shires, sales & marketing director at Health365.com, believes the results show there is a significant gender gap in accessing health insurance.

Source : ifaonline

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After enduring four years of falling or static dividends, shareholders in Insurance Australia Group could finally be in line for a significant one-off payout to help boost investment returns from one of the country’s biggest domestic insurers.

IAG is sitting on about $900 million of excess capital, and analysts suggest that as much as $375 million could be returned to investors through a special dividend, which would be the first such payment since the 12.5¢-a-share payment in 2006. A payout of that size would be the equivalent of 18¢ a share and would go some way to restoring IAG’s battered reputation for dividend returns among its legion of retail shareholders.

From a high of 29.5¢ in combined interim and final dividends in the successive years of 2006 and 2007, investors saw the payout cut in 2008 and then more than halved – to just 10¢ – last year, with only a small rise a year later.

Falling profits in Australia and losses in Britain caused by the group’s ill-fated expansion there and huge weather-related insurance claims substantially reduced IAG’s pool of bottom-line earnings and its ability to maintain its dividends at its previously high levels.

The company expects a better 12 months for its 2011 year ending on June 30, notwithstanding any catastrophic weather-related events that could hold back its expected profit growth. Latest forecasts suggest that IAG will turn in a full-year profit of $706 million, which, if met, could allow for an annual dividend payment totalling 21¢ a share. That would be equal to 60 per cent of the company’s earnings – right in the middle of its declared 50 to 70 per cent payout range.

In a review of IAG’s finances, the insurance research team at Deutsche Bank estimates that with $909 million of capital over and above its minimum financial commitments required by the industry’s regulator, the level of post-dividend retained profits would allow the company room for another capital return.

An option would be a share buy-back but Deutsche suggests that would only increase earnings per share by a maximum of 3 per cent over the next three years, while a special dividend payment could boost the value of its share price by 23¢.

The stock has been steadily recovering from its year-low of $3.28, and closed on Friday at $3.81. But it is yet to break through the $4 level – a price last seen in March.

A special dividend is also considered more likely because of the availability of franking credits. Deutsche estimates that even with a $345 million one-off payment, IAG would still be able to fully frank another $1 billion of dividends after its financial year ends in June.

Source : The Sydney Morning Herald

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The ACE Group of insurance and reinsurance companies announced that it has been granted a license from the Dubai Financial Services Authority to establish a wholly owned subsidiary in the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

ACE has been granted a DFSA Category IV license enabling the company to offer reinsurance products to the market, including a full range of property, casualty and accident and health coverages. The new company is called ACE Insurance Management (DIFC) Ltd and will be managed by Mark Quinn, who is the Senior Executive Officer. ACE also plans to strengthen its underwriting presence in Dubai with the appointment of a Senior Property Underwriter.

Opened in 2004, the DIFC is the world’s fastest growing international financial centre and offers ACE access to a fully integrated reinsurance market.

Steve Dixon, Regional Managing Director for ACE in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), comments: “Our license to operate in the DIFC is a significant milestone in ACE’s growth across the Middle East region. We now have in place a solid team of specialist underwriters located close to the market, providing reinsurance solutions that are reinforced by access to the resources of our global network.”

Andrew Kendrick, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of ACE European Group (which incorporates MENA) comments: “Having a presence in the DIFC is very important for ACE’s development and demonstrates our commitment to the region. We see a great opportunity for our Dubai operation to build on the success we have had throughout the MENA region.”

ACE has had a representative office in Dubai since 2008. ACE will share the DIFC office with Sovereign Risk Insurance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ACE, one of the world’s leading underwriters of political risk insurance. ACE Dubai forms part of the ACE MENA regional group. Further information can be found at www.ace-mena.com

Source : Ace Press Release

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AXA Group announces the appointment of Jérôme Droesch as CEO for the Gulf region. He was previously Regional CEO for the South-West region of AXA France. He replaces Jean-Louis Laurent Josi, appointed CEO of AXA Japan.

Jérôme Droesch will report to Jean-Laurent Granier, CEO of the Mediterranean and Latin America region, and will be in charge of the insurance activities of AXA in Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

“Under the leadership of Jean-Louis, AXA has become the first international non-life insurer in the Gulf region, one of the more attractive growing markets in the world. I am convinced that his great knowledge of the insurance business lines and his people and managerial qualities will serve Jérôme to pursue and strengthen the dynamic growth in this region with the support of AXA Gulf’s teams” said Jean-Laurent Granier, CEO of the Mediterranean and Latin America region. This appointment is subject to approval by regulatory authorities.

Source : AXA Press Release

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Steven Beslity, global CEO of Aon Risk Solutions’ marine team, is the only broker named in the inaugural top 10 most influential people in insurance for the shipping industry, according to Lloyd’s List. Aon Risk Solutions is the global risk management business of Aon Corporation.

This is the first time in the 276-year history of the venerable publication that a Top 100 list has been compiled.

Steven is a veteran practitioner in the insurance industry, starting at Frank B. Hall in their marine division, and has continuously remained a specialist in the industry. Prior to being appointed global CEO of Aon’s marine team in 2009, based in London, he held several senior management positions at some of the largest marine insurance brokers in the world, including Fred S. James, Sedgwick, RBH and Marsh, where he was global marine practice leader. Steven joined Benfield Corporate Risks in 2005, which was acquired by Aon in 2008, as deputy CEO, to lead Benfield’s development in the direct market, focusing on the marine, energy and power sectors.

Warren Mula, global CEO of Aon Broking, said: “Aon’s strength lies with its people, and this is a well deserved accolade for Steven. His depth of knowledge and understanding of the risks and issues that Aon’s clients face personify our unique ability to help them with the risk and insurance challenges they face. While this honour mentions Steven by name, he is supported by an exceptional team right across the world who constantly delivers the best of Aon to our clients by leveraging Aon’s global capabilities through local teams.”

Rob Woods, CEO of Aon’s Specialty division commented: “This is a fantastic recognition for Steven, and I congratulate him. I am sure he will be the first to agree with me that this is also recognition of his outstanding Aon colleagues all over the world, particularly in London, where Aon’s marine specialty is based. I thank the entire London marine team for their hard work over the last year and look forward to a successful 2011.”

Source : Aon Press Release

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In his first UK interview as chief executive of AIA, Mark Tucker said that the growth strategy for AIA would be organic and that the firm was looking at tactical opportunities rather than major acquisitions. Asked directly about whether he was interested in a bid, Mr Tucker said: “We’ve closed that chapter in our lives.

“We are focusing our energy here [in Asia] on an incredibly bright future with the right company, with the right people, at the right time. We have our own destiny in our hands and we have to deliver on that.

“What AIA has is that it’s in the right place at the right time. We are fundamentally about organic growth.

“We have the ability to do mergers and acquisitions but it would be tactical. The organic opportunities that we have are so significant that’s where our focus will be.”

AIA itself was the subject of a controversial and ultimately unsuccessful $35bn (£22bn) takeover attempt earlier this year led by Mr Tucker’s successor at the Prudential, Tidjane Thiam. The bid collapsed amid acrimony after investors refused to back the high-cost approach.

Mr Thiam privately said that one reason for launching the bid was because he feared an approach from AIA once it had floated on the Hong Kong exchange, an event that has now successfully taken place.

Mr Tucker said AIA was debt free and would look to become the number one company in Hong Kong. Mr Tucker made it clear that AIA would be much more competitive with the Prudential, possibly raising concerns about the stretching targets for growth Mr Thiam has set the British firm.

“The wider potential is such that the competitive forces in this part of the world mean that it’s about increasing the size of the pie rather than fighting for the next piece of it,” Mr Tucker said.

“There’s no reason why we can’t be the number one company in Hong Kong,” he said.Mr Tucker also revealed that he is set to split his combined role as chairman and chief executive.

The move is expected to be made in the first half of 2011 and is understood to be a development that the local Hong Kong financial regulator is keen to see happen.

Since Mr Tucker joined AIA in August, his priorities have been to oversee the successful initial public offering, through which it is now valued at about $35bn, and renew the board and senior management team.

Managing that change has required a combined executive chairman’s role. However, Mr Tucker now expects that to change.

“We will split it at some point probably sooner rather than later,” he said. “Putting the board together has been very important.” He confirmed he expected a new non-executive chairman would be appointed during 2011.

AIA, once part of the American AIG insurer that was bailed out by the US government during the financial crisis, began trading on the Hong Kong stock exchange at the end of October having seen the US sell 67pc of its holding in the Asian subsidiary. The rest is expected to be sold off over the next 12-18 months.

Source : The Telegraph

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Specialist engineering and construction insurer HSB Engineering Insurance Limited has appointed Sian Williams as regional manager for London and the South East.

Based in London, Sian will be responsible for HSB’s business and relationship development in these key geographic areas. Sian brings 22 years experience to the role gained working for national brokers in a variety of areas including servicing, technical, development and broking.

Sian is a specialist in property, casualty and engineering business and has extensive experience with mid market and major UK and international clients.

Prior to HSB Sian was regional broking director at Willis Ltd with responsibility for premium placement and managing insurer relationships. She was also an integral part of the new-business team responsible for technical programme design, pricing, client tenders and placement for UK and global clients.

CEO of HSB Stephanie Watkins said: “Sian brings a wealth of knowledge of the broker market and considerable talent and vision in business development. All of which will be of tremendous benefit in driving forward our distribution strategy.”

Source : HSB Press Release

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Brit Insurance, the international general insurance and reinsurance group, is pleased to announce the expansion of its UK Commercial Motor team with the appointment of Gerry Ross as Underwriter, Commercial Motor, effective immediately.

Gerry will report directly to Andy Keane, UK Portfolio Manager, Motor. He will be responsible for leading the development of the account with a focus on Fleet and Haulage and providing technical support to Brit Insurance’s regional underwriting offices.

Gerry joins Brit Insurance from Allianz, where he started his career as a graduate trainee in 2002. He has worked in a variety of roles, focusing on underwriting and distribution, most recently as a well respected Senior Motor Underwriter within the London Market.
Andy Keane, UK Portfolio Manager, said:

“Our UK commercial motor account is of significant importance to Brit Insurance and Gerry’s appointment is a reflection of the strategic value we attribute to the class. His experience in underwriting and distribution combined with his technical knowledge of Fleet and Haulage business will make him a valuable asset to both the Motor team and our UK business.”

Source : Brit Insurance Press Release

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The UK Government has moved to allay fears that fishermen and mountaineers will have to take out expensive insurance to cover themselves against the cost of being rescued by helicopters.

Coalition ministers are expected to make an announcement today on plans to “outsource” search and rescue (SAR) operations currently run by the RAF, Royal Navy and civilian aircraft working under contract to the coastguard.

The Soteria consortium, which includes helicopter operator CHC, is the favourite to take over. CHC already provides rescue services for the coastguard from Shetland and Stornoway in the Western Isles.

It would replace elderly Sea King helicopters operated by service crews with longer-range and faster Sikorsky choppers operated from fewer bases.

A spokesman for the UK Government’s Department for Transport said an announcement on the future of the SAR service would be made “shortly”.

He added: “There are no plans to introduce charges.”

And Scottish Mountain Rescue Committee chairman Alfie Ingram said: “It is not going to happen – not in our lifetime.

“The possibility of charging is not on the agenda.”

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Some motorists who fit winter tyres to their car to cope with snow are being charged higher insurance premiums, it has been claimed.

AA Insurance Services says some people have been told to pay up to 20% more. Winter tyres should be much safer in the snow, but some insurers have been counting them as a modification to the manufacturer’s specifications.

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) says that is a mistake and premiums should not be higher. The AA’s Ian Crowder said in some cases insurers were even refusing to offer cover if winter tyres were fitted.

The mistake is being blamed on insurance company call centres, where not all staff may be aware of the safety implications.

Over the last few weeks of wintry weather, winter, or snow tyres, have proved more popular than ever before.

One supplier, Kwik Fit, says it has already sold 50,000 of them this year, compared with 2,000 last year. And it is warning that many retailers have now sold out of the standard sizes. The tyres provide improved performance on snow and ice.

Once the temperature falls below seven degrees Celsius, standard tyres tend to harden up, reducing their grip. But winter tyres contain a higher proportion of natural rubber and silica, which keeps them more pliable in cold weather.

In tests conducted by the British Tyre Manufacturers Association, a car braking at 60mph in wet conditions has a five metre shorter braking distance if it has winter tyres fitted.

Should winter tyres be compulsory?

“We very much recommend that there should be a debate on this in the UK.

“There’s a very, very, strong argument that people in the UK should fit winter tyres for the four to five months of the autumn and winter,” says Clare Simpson, of the RoadSafe organisation.

Many other European countries have legislation that compels motorists to fit winter tyres in certain conditions.

They include Austria, parts of Germany and countries in Scandinavia. But in practice, having a set of winter tyres means having a separate set of wheels, which can be expensive.

BMW told the BBC that prices for its smallest car, a One Series, would start at £600. And you have to have somewhere to store the wheels as well.

Nevertheless Clare Simpson believes we should be thinking about legislation.

“We very much recommend that there should be a debate on this in the UK,” she says.

Even so, some call centre staff appear to have been telling customers that winter tyres require higher premiums.

Insurance companies may have been treating the tyres as a modification to the manufacturer’s specifications.

The ABI said providing tyres are fitted by a reputable garage, and in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions, motorists should not be charged a higher premium.

“The confusion may be through call centres, where that information is not getting through,” says Malcolm Tarling, of the ABI.

“The fitting of winter tyres should not affect the risk,” he insists.

If anyone is told they do in fact have to pay more when they fit those tyres, they are advised to contact their insurance company’s head office directly.

Source : BBC

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Shanghai authorities have ordered fruit vendors to stop selling oranges that have allegedly been dyed with a toxic wax, Chinese media said Friday, in the country’s latest food safety scare.

The Shanghai government has ordered tests on the oranges after consumers complained their skin was turning red after coming in contact with oranges sold in local markets, the Oriental Morning Post reported.

“Tissues turn red when you wipe them and if you hold the oranges in your palm, it will turn red,” a consumer surnamed Hu told the newspaper.

An unnamed seller at a wholesale agricultural products market told the newspaper that some oranges had been dyed with a toxic industrial wax so “they look fresher and sell at higher prices”.

Shanghai authorities have ordered sellers to pull the oranges off their shelves and are conducting tests, the report said.

It was unclear whether the oranges were dyed by sellers in the city or producers in Jiangxi province in eastern China, the report said.

Industrial dyes can damage people’s memory, immune systems and cause respiratory problems, the newspaper said.

The Chinese government has come under increasing pressure from its citizens as well as countries such as the United States and Japan to improve the standard of its food and medicines.

In a scandal in 2008, at least six children died and around 300,000 fell sick after consuming milk powder laced with the industrial chemical melamine, which was added to make products appear higher in protein.

Shanghai, Dec 10, 2010 (AFP)

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Drivers are being warned to expect “the worst ever pothole season”.

The ice and snow on the roads may be clearing but in its wake are severe potholes, experts have said.

Potholes.co.uk has already seen a jump in people using the site during the freezing conditions, a spokesman said, and more are expected as the state of the UK roads at set to worsen “incredibly quickly” in the near future.

Motorists will be looking to their car insurance to cover costs after policies paid out more than £320 million to repair damage caused by potholes last year, he said.

“That figure could pale into insignificance,” said spokesman Duncan McClure-Fisher.

“The roads are going to deteriorate incredibly quickly over the coming months.

“Given the severity and earlier than normal arrival of harsh wintry conditions, everything is pointing towards a miserable period for motorists.

“Local councils and central Government have a duty of care to maintain the roads of Britain. Yet, with the extended period of cold weather and councils trimming budgets across the country, it’s hard to see how they will be able to tackle what points towards being the worst ever pothole season.”

Potholes are caused by water or snow filling existing cracks in road surfaces and freezing. The expansion causes breaks on the road, which is revealed when the ice melts. Repeated freeze-thaw cycles cause more damage.

Source : Confused.com Press Release

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The chief executive of price-comparison site Confused.com has left the business. South African-born Carlton Hood joined the Cardiff-based subsidiary of Admiral Motor Insurance in 2008.

In the face of fierce competition in the price-comparison site market Confused .com posted profits of just over £25m last year, broadly in line with 2008.

Earlier this year it launched a new television campaign, after admitting that its previous campaign had not had the desired effect.

A spokeswoman for Confused said: “We can confirm Carlton Hood has decided to leave the business and Kevin Chidwick has taken over as managing director with immediate effect. Carlton made a significant contribution to Confused.com and we wish him every success for the future.”

Yesterday Admiral, an FTSE 100 company, announced a new appointment to its board. Colin Holmes has joined as a non executive director with immediate effect. He has also joined Admiral’s audit and remuneration committees.

Chartered accountant Mr Holmes has more than 20 years of financial, commercial and operational experience gained through a number of executive positions within Tesco. Until recently, he was Tesco’s UK commercial director for fresh foods and a member of the group executive committee.

Since 2006, Mr Holmes has been an independent non-executive director on the board of Bovis Homes Group and is the chairman of Bovis Homes’ remuneration committee.

Alastair Lyons, Admiral Group chairman, said: “I am delighted that we have been able to add Colin Holmes to our board and, in due course, provide succession to the role of audit chair when Martin Jackson completes his three terms.”

Source : Wales Online

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