QBE pulls out of Burma

QBE Insurance has cancelled insurance it provided to Burma and is to cease providing insurance to companies operating in the country, according to the Burma Campaign UK’s Insurance Campaign.

In a statement to the Burma Campaign UK, Frank O’Halloran, QBE’s chief executive, said: "QBE has always had a policy that the company does not fund the current ruling party in Burma. To provide further certainty that the policy is being adhered to, QBE has reviewed its various portfolios around the world and has cancelled the few incidental Burmese exposures on multinational insurance policies which could have a direct or indirect benefit for the current ruling party in Burma.

"QBE does not have an office, an agent or any employees in Burma and does not provide insurance for any business owned in Burma."

Johnny Chatterton, campaigns officer at the Burma Campaign UK, said: “Foreign insurers provide a financial lifeline to Burma’s brutal regime. They insure the projects that make the regime billions of dollars a year. These billions don’t help the people of Burma, they entrench military rule and fund campaigns of ethnic cleansing in Eastern Burma.

“QBE’s welcome decision shames insurers like Catlin and Atrium that continue to help fund the Burmese regime.”

The role of QBE in the Burmese insurance market was highlighted in the Burma Campaign UK report, “Insuring Repression” published in July 2008.

QBE was added to the “Insurance Dirty List” after an investigation by The Burma Campaign UK discovered company documents detailing two correspondent offices in Burma.

Insurers that have already stopped writing business in burma include AIG, Allianz, Aon, Aviva, Axa, ING, Munich Re, SCOR, Swiss Re and Willis.