News: International business “has become more risky”

Over half of European companies (52%) 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 four key factors that have caused European companies to reassess their approach to multinational and export risk recently are disruption from catastrophes (42%), financial crises (38%), greater dependency on overseas earnings (37%), and international terrorist events (33%).

The research reveals that half of European companies feel either underprepared or completely unprepared to deal with multinational and export risk. When asked which particular areas they believe their multinational operations are most exposed to today, respondents highlight directors and officers (D&O) risk (46%), environmental risk (39%), reputational risk (38%) and liability risk (35%) as the top exposures.

Despite these concerns, only half of European businesses currently have a multinational insurance programme in place to cover their global risks.