European Union regulators opened an antitrust probe on Thursday into the maritime insurance sector, citing concerns that certain agreements may harm ship owners.
The European Commission said it would investigate agreements between the Protection & Indemnity Clubs, mutual non-profit associations that provide insurance to ship owners, within the International Group of P&I Clubs (IG).
IG is a worldwide association of 13 P&I Clubs and its members, which include clubs from the United States, Japan and Britain, provide protection and indemnity insurance to about 90 percent of all world shipping.
The commission said it “fears that the provisions at stake in the agreements between the Protection & Indemnity Clubs within the International Group of P&I Clubs may harm ship owners and the insurers that are not members of the IG.”
The probe will examine whether certain provisions of the agreements may lessen competition between P&I Clubs and restrict the access of commercial insurers or other mutual P&I insurers to the relevant markets, it said.
The clubs operate two separate agreements within the IG that contain rules on the sharing of insurance claims and joint reinsurance, as well as rules on the contractual relationships between the clubs and their members.
The European Commission said the agreements are not automatically covered by a new antitrust block exemption for the insurance sector that came into force in April.
Brussels, Aug 26, 2010 (AFP)
