Aon Trade Credit Experts: Venezuelan Anti-American Rhetoric in Ecuadorian Elections Could Complicate Relationships for U.S.-base
17 Ottobre 2006 - 12:17AM
PR Newswire (US)
Populist Rhetoric Breeds Votes, Undermines Foreign Investment
CHICAGO, Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The political risk
landscape may change for US-based companies doing business in some
parts of South America if Ecuador elects Rafael Correa its next
president, according to Aon political risk experts. (Logo:
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO ) With 60
percent of the vote counted in the first round of Ecuador's
presidential elections, Alvaro Noboa, 55, one of the wealthiest men
in Latin America, had 27 percent of the vote compared to 22 percent
for Rafael Correa, 43. As neither candidate won a clear victory, a
run-off election is likely next month. Correa, an American-educated
economics expert who received his PhD from the University of
Illinois, is aligning himself with the anti-American rhetoric of
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez. Calling himself a friend of
Chavez, who has become Washington's leading antagonist in Latin
America, Correa says his government would shutter a U.S. military
base in Ecuador, crack down on multinational companies and possibly
declare a moratorium on payment of the country's $10 billion
foreign debt. If he wins next month, he will join a growing list of
left-leaning leaders elected in Latin America since 2002, and may,
according to Aon U.S. Trade Credit Managing Director Bryan Squibb
usher in an era in which other political candidates see more
populist commentary as a sure way to attract a larger vote. "Most
companies doing business in the region are well aware of the
region's political trends, analyzing their political risk exposures
and buying sufficient cover, so in that sense this development is
not a surprise," Squibb says. "However, it could open the door to
the sort of arbitrary governmental rulemaking that may make for
more complicated relationships between US-based multinationals and
local government." Roger Schwartz, Aon Trade Credit senior vice
president, adds that none of the contenders is expected to bring
the kind of political and economic stability Ecuador badly needs.
"Correa's election is not guaranteed," Schwartz says, "particularly
if the vote goes to a second round as polls predict. If the
election is extended, then moderate and more centrist politicians
may join against him and his contentious project to sideline
Congress, redesign petroleum contracts, and refuse to revive
free-trade talks with the United States." However, Schwartz said
the Ecuadorian elections are but the latest example of a longer
term trend in Latin America that investors worry may lead to
threats to oil & gas contracts, mining concessions, unilateral
repudiation or rescheduling of foreign debt and a general
undermining of foreign investment in the region. Ecuador's run-off
elections are scheduled to be held on November 26. About Aon Aon
Corporation (NYSE:AOC) (http://www.aon.com/) is a leading provider
of risk management services, insurance and reinsurance brokerage,
human capital and management consulting, and specialty insurance
underwriting. There are 46,000 employees working in Aon's 500
offices in more than 120 countries. Backed by broad resources,
industry knowledge and technical expertise, Aon professionals help
a wide range of clients develop effective risk management and
workforce productivity solutions. This press release contains
certain statements related to future results, or states our
intentions, beliefs and expectations or predictions for the future
which are forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
forward-looking statements are subject to certain risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from either historical or anticipated results depending on a
variety of factors. Potential factors that could impact results
include: general economic conditions in different countries in
which we do business around the world, changes in global equity and
fixed income markets that could affect the return on invested
assets, fluctuations in exchange and interest rates that could
influence revenue and expense, rating agency actions that could
affect our ability to borrow funds, funding of our various pension
plans, changes in the competitive environment, our ability to
implement restructuring initiatives and other initiatives intended
to yield cost savings, our ability to execute the stock repurchase
program, our ability to execute the planned sale of the Aon
Warranty Group, changes in commercial property and casualty markets
and commercial premium rates that could impact revenues, changes in
revenues and earnings due to the elimination of contingent
commissions, other uncertainties surrounding a new compensation
model, the impact of investigations brought by state attorneys
general, state insurance regulators, federal prosecutors, and
federal regulators, the impact of class actions and individual
lawsuits including client class actions, securities class actions,
derivative actions, and ERISA class actions, the cost of resolution
of other contingent liabilities and loss contingencies, and the
difference in ultimate paid claims in our underwriting companies
from actuarial estimates. Further information concerning the
Company and its business, including factors that potentially could
materially affect the Company's financial results, is contained in
the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT: Al Orendorff of Aon Corporation, +1-312-381-3153
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20041215/CGW049LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Aon Corporation CONTACT: Al
Orendorff of Aon Corporation, +1-312-381-3153 Web site:
http://www.aon.com/
Copyright
Grafico Azioni AON (NYSE:AOC)
Storico
Da Giu 2024 a Lug 2024
Grafico Azioni AON (NYSE:AOC)
Storico
Da Lug 2023 a Lug 2024