European firms face risky international business environment: ACE survey

More than half of European companies (54%) responding to an insurer survey believe that doing international business has become more risky over the last five years, and 95% say their own company has become more concerned about multinational and export risk over the same period, according to research published by ACE Group.

The survey, which polled more than 600 firms earlier this year, identified four key factors that have prompted European businesses to reassess their approach to multinational risk – disruption from catastrophes (42%), financial crises (38%), greater dependency on overseas earnings (37%) and international terrorist events (33%).

ACE’s research also showed that roughly half of European companies feel either underprepared or completely unprepared to deal with multinational and export risk, with D&O, environmental risk, reputational risk and liability risk cited as the top exposures. The insurer also noted that only half of these firms have a multinational program in place to cover global risks.

“More worryingly, 87% of European companies believe there are significant gaps in their current multinational insurance arrangements,” said Clive Hassett, director of multinational services with ACE European Group.

“With tax, regulatory and legal requirements varying widely from country to country, working with the right insurance partners to develop and implement a comprehensive, transparent and compliant multinational insurance program has never been more important for globally-minded businesses.”