Insurable Interest Canadian Insurance Blog

Company recommends organizations address influx of vulnerabilities and exposures with human-managed detection and response tools San Francisco, CA (Feb. 21, 2024) — Coalition, the world’s first Active Insurance provider designed to prevent digital risk before it strikes, today published its Cyber Threat Index 2024, detailing insights on cybersecurity trends from 2023 and emerging threats businesses should be aware of in 2024. According to the report, Coalition expects the total number of common vulnerabilities and exposures (CVEs) to increase by 25% in 2024 to 34,888 vulnerabilities, or roughly 2,900 per month. “New vulnerabilities are published at a rapid rate and growing. With an influx of new vulnerabilities, often sprouting via disparate flagging systems, the cyber risk ecosystem is hard to track. Most organizations are experiencing alert fatigue and confusion about what to patch first to limit their overall exposure and risk,” commented Coalition’s Head of Research, Tiago Henriques. “In today’s cybersecurity climate, organizations can’t be expected to manage all of the vulnerabilities on their own; they need someone to manage these security concerns and help them prioritize remediation. We share these insights, as well as our Coalition Exploit Scoring System, in the hopes that it will make the complicated cyber ecosystem...

Electrification 2035 report: Morningstar DBRS Chicago, IL (Feb. 12, 2024) – Morningstar DBRS has released a commentary titled “Electrification 2035: Auto Insurance Rates to Increase as the Transition to Electric Vehicles Becomes Law in Canada,” which discusses the effects that the Electric Vehicle (EV) Availability Standard announced by Canada could have on automobile insurance premium rates as the transition to 100% zero-emission vehicle sales targets gains momentum. The commentary highlights the following key points: As Canada’s automobile landscape transitions, EV buyers should expect to pay more for insurance when replacing internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles with EVs. Insurers will also have to adjust their pricing models as more EV claims data are generated. EV owners in the UK already face higher premium rates and, in some instances, denial of coverage as insurers adjust their pricing models. This trend could manifest in Canada over time. Repairs and replacement parts for EVs are very expensive, prompting some insurers to total damaged vehicles instead of attempting to repair them. Auto insurance rates are highly regulated in Canada, which may help mitigate the pace of potential rate increases. “For EV drivers in Canada, a silver lining might be found in the highly regulated Canadian...

A recent study finds more than 80% of Canadians say the rise in auto theft makes them concerned about the increase in crime in their community Toronto, ON (Feb. 6, 2024) – Équité Association has released its 2023 Auto Theft Trend Report, which illustrates the continuation of the national auto theft crisis, following a historically high year in 2022. In Canada, a vehicle is now stolen every 5 minutes. Between 2021 and 2023, auto theft trends increased sharply in Ontario (up 48.2%), Quebec (up 57.9%), Atlantic Canada (up 34%), and in Western Canada (up 5.5%). “These trends show that the national auto theft crisis is continuing,” says Terri O’Brien, President and CEO of Équité Association. “Canadians are feeling vulnerable and the majority of us are especially concerned about personal safety and the safety of our communities. Criminals are becoming more brazen and are increasingly resorting to violence as witnessed by the significant increase in car-jackings and owner-interrupted thefts.” Auto theft in Canada continues to be viewed as a low-risk/high-reward opportunity for criminals, regardless if the vehicles are for export or domestic resale. Illegal profit margins are very high and the risk of prosecution is considerably low. However, there has been...

Start Slideshow Six large broker-dealers reported a drop in earnings in the final quarter of 2023, with five posting positive results after adjustments. Some firms’ fourth-quarter and annual results were affected by fees imposed on institutions by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. following the regional banking crisis last year. These special assessments and other one-time payments, or gains in one case, led many broker-dealers to report adjusted earnings for Q4 2023. Some firms reported both adjusted net income (or earnings) and earnings per share, but several BDs just announced one adjusted figure.  Two firms had significant losses: Citigroup, now in cost-cutting mode and laying off 20,000 staff members; and UBS, digesting Credit Suisse — which it bought for $3.2 billion a year ago. Related: Best & Worst Broker-Dealers: Q3 Earnings, 2023 “Wealth revenues were down in 2023 and we fully recognize that this business isn’t where it needs to be,” CEO Jane Fraser said in a statement last month.  As for UBS, it expects to wrap up its integration of Credit Suisse by the end of 2026 and aims for its Global Wealth Management unit to top $5 trillion of invested assets over the next five years — or about $100...