ARAG’s Canadian subsidiaries amalgamate to become ARAG Legal Solutions Inc. as transition is completed
The Toronto-based ARAG Services Corporation amalgamated with ARAG Legal Solutions Inc., effective January 1st, 2022. The amalgamation was driven by the acquisition of DAS Canadian operations in March 2021 by the German ARAG Group, a global leader in legal expenses insurance (LEI) and currently active in 19 countries. ARAG Legal Solutions Inc. is the leading Canadian managing general agent specializing in legal expense insurance with premiums under management of around 27 million euros as of year-end 2021. The product portfolio comprises of legal expense insurance products for families, landlords, condominium corporations / strata councils and small businesses in Canada.
“After completing the transition phase, the rebranding marks another important milestone in our Canadian activities since we entered the legal expense insurance market in 2016. We believe that all citizens should be able to assert their legal rights – regardless of their financial situation. Thus, we are strongly committed to provide Canadian families and business owners solutions to better manage their legal risks,” explains Dr. Renko Dirksen, Speaker of the Management Board of ARAG SE. “The Canadian LEI market offers promising opportunities with sound growth potential helping us to advance our successful international expansion strategy,” adds Dr. Renko Dirksen. ARAG recently commenced business operations in Australia and acquired DAS’ operations in the Republic of Ireland.
ARAG Legal Solutions Inc. with its 50 full-time staff operates as a managing general agent offering a broad range of legal expense insurance solutions underwritten by HDI Global Speciality SE.
“Our experienced team has done a tremendous job managing transition efforts this past year. We got the job done with minimal disruption to our existing business partners and customers, while also gaining significant new customers as well,” states Barbara Haynes, CEO of ARAG Legal Solutions Inc. “2022 will be another engaging year for Canadian staff, with the planned launch of new core and niche legal expense insurance and legal service solutions. We are excited about what’s within our short and long-term innovation pipeline, and we believe our business partners and customers will be as well,” outlines Barbara Haynes. “Innovation is one of the strategic drivers within ARAG. When it’s combined with a customer centric view of all operations, products, and services, the company is well positioned to drive the growth of legal expense insurance in Canada and deliver top-notch customer service,” adds the Canadian CEO.
GasLog Ltd. Announces Chief Executive Officer Transition
GasLog Ltd., yesterday announced that Paul Wogan, Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) of GasLog, has informed the board of directors of GasLog (the “Board”) that he intends to retire from his role as CEO effective March 9, 2022. He will remain, in an advisory role until June 30, 2022 to ensure a smooth transition. The Board is pleased to appoint Paolo Enoizi, currently Chief Operating Officer (“COO”) of the Company as well as CEO of GasLog Partners LP (“GasLog Partners”), as CEO of GasLog Ltd effective March 10, 2022.
Peter Livanos, Chairman of GasLog, said, “Under Paul’s outstanding leadership over the last 10 years, GasLog has grown and developed to become one of the world’s leading LNG shipping companies. I would like to express our sincere thanks to Paul for all his hard work and dedication to GasLog and wish him all the best in his retirement.
I am very pleased that Paolo has agreed to take over the CEO role from Paul. Paolo has been GasLog’s COO since April 2019 and has been CEO of GasLog Partners since August 2021. I have every confidence that Paolo will meet and exceed our expectations, and I am looking forward to working closely with him as he evolves the Company in the years to come.”
EIB joins fellow Multilateral Development Banks to support a just transition
The European Investment Bank is joining seven other Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) in committing to a just transition that supports countries and other clients moving towards net-zero emission economies.
The MDBs today released a joint statement outlining their commitment to five High-Level Principles for a just transition. The statement outlines how the MDBs will support countries and other clients in moving away from the use of fossil fuels and towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate resilience in a way that shares the costs and benefits, while supporting and protecting communities, industries, and workers.
The MDBs will work with national development banks and other financial institutions to develop financing and policy strategies supporting a just transition that promotes economic diversification and inclusion.
EIB Vice-President Ricardo Mourinho Félix, who is responsible for Just Transition, stated: “To meet the Paris climate goals, we must switch to a green economy and create opportunities to ensure that no one is left behind. The EIB is partnering with fellow multilateral development banks on common principles to finance a Just Transition. We are currently working on a Just Transition proposal under our Climate Bank Roadmap, which will demonstrate how our lending, our financial instruments, but also our technical assistance and advisory services can support a green future for all of us, in particular in the regions and for the communities that have the furthest to go.”
The need for a just transition is set out in the Paris Agreement preamble, which cites “the imperatives of a just transition of the workforce and the creation of decent work and quality jobs in accordance with nationally defined development priorities”. This is at the heart of the climate work of the MDBs as they work together to align their activities with the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement.
The five principles are: delivering climate objectives while enabling socio-economic outcomes and building progress on Paris Agreement goals and the Sustainable Development Goals; support to move away from greenhouse gas emissions-intensive economic activities through financing, policy and advisory activities, and knowledge sharing; the mobilisation of public and private finance and enhanced coordination; support for affected workers and communities to mitigate impacts and increase opportunities; and transparent and inclusive planning, implementation and monitoring of just transition programmes that include relevant stakeholders and affected groups.
The European Union’s Just Transition Mechanism is an integral part of the European Green Deal. It supports a wide range of investments helping to address the social, employment, economic and environmental impacts of the transition towards carbon neutrality in the regions most affected by the transition. Inside the EU, the EIB Group will support all pillars of the Just Transition Mechanism. Outside of the EU, the EIB will support Just Transition in the context of climate action and social development, framing its approach in collaboration with the other MDBs.
EIB at COP26
The EIB will be present with a pavilion in Hall 4 of the Scottish Event Campus and run a series of side events on numerous topics. You will find the full agenda here.
The European Investment Bank is active in around 160 countries and is the world’s largest multilateral lender for climate action projects. The EIB Group has recently adopted its Climate Bank Roadmap to deliver on its ambitious agenda to support EUR 1 trillion of climate action and environmental sustainability investments in the decade to 2030 and to deliver more than 50% of EIB finance for climate action and environmental sustainability by 2025. Also, as part of the Roadmap, from the start of 2021, all new EIB Group operations will be aligned with the goals and principles of the Paris Agreement.
The Port of Thessaloniki has an Action Plan for the transition to a Sustainable and Low-carbon emission future
Since the beginning of 2018, ThPA SA has been a partner in SUPAIR INTERREG – ADRION project, a project that aimed at reducing the environmental impacts of shipping and on-shore port operations with an integrated approach and transnational perspective. The project officially ends in the end of June 2020.
The Action Plan for a Sustainable and Low-carbon Port of Thessaloniki has been the core product of SUPAIR project. It is based on a common transnational planning methodology developed by the projects of academic partners and designed taking into account the ports’ already existing strategies and planned developments in the field of sustainability and greening of port operations. It includes a description of current port operations and management models but also the results of the Focus Group consultation with relevant local stakeholders. It is linked and coherent with other strategies at various levels such as Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), Sustainable Energy and Climate Action Plan (SECAPs) and Covenant of Mayors. It includes also an evaluation framework and a monitoring plan.
The Plan concludes and focuses in three main actions that were developed in collaboration with the researchers of the Transport and Project Management Division of the Civil Engineering Department of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The interventions are namely: 1) Truck flow Management study, 2) Energy Management Plan and 3) Environmental Management Database.
The Truck flow management study has been specific to the Conventional cargo port focusing on interventions at three areas of interest namely Quay 24, Pier 4 and Pier 5. The study included a description of the current situation regarding truck flows and proposed measures under 2 different scenarios (Scenario 1: Truck flow management using current infrastructure and Scenario 2: Truck flow management with the introduction of new infrastructure). The application of the proposals of the study has the potential to provide reduced truck route length, reduced truck engine idle time resulting to reduction of carbon emissions within the port and increased efficiency in the services of Conventional Cargo port.
The Energy Management Plan has been developed using existing methodology from state of the art literature from another EU project-GREENBERTH. It included a review of the ports energy management vision, goals and objectives, a review of Energy policies, regulations and standards, a summary of current main port energy consumption data, an analysis of energy needs and potential measures for improvement and a selection of measures to be adopted. The final proposed measures were the replacement of existing conventional lightbulbs with LED in the outdoor and indoor lighting systems, the installation of solar panels on building roofs utilizing Net-metering, the renovation of office buildings with thermal facade insulation and last the proposal to set up high energy standards for new handling equipment purchase.
The Environmental Management Database that is already in place has been developed according to the actual ThPA user requirements. It has a plain and user-friendly environment with simple graphics and ‘clear’ operation. The data stored include Electricity, Natural Gas, Liquid Fuels, Water and Waste. The database enables the instant calculation of CO2 emissions per energy type for the selected timeframe. It enables the export of data in various formats and it has three user levels while designed to be interoperable, upgradable, ready to accept new data flows.
Overall, with the implementation of the Action Plan, the Port of Thessaloniki can limit carbon emissions, control and manage the port’s environmental impacts, improve the energy efficiency, decrease the burden of port related truck flows, make a smooth transition to a low-carbon operation and make a step forward into digitization and data sharing.
GasLog Ltd. and GasLog Partners LP Announce Chief Financial Officer Transition
GasLog Ltd. and GasLog Partners LP. announced that, following GasLog’s decision to base its senior management, including the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) position, in Greece, Alastair Maxwell has decided not to relocate and will therefore step down from his position as CFO on June 30, 2020. The Boards of GasLog and GasLog Partners have appointed Achilleas Tasioulas, who is presently Deputy CFO, as CFO, effective July 1, 2020. During this period, Alastair will work closely with Achilleas to ensure an orderly transition of responsibilities and Alastair will remain available after leaving to provide his experience and advice, if required.
Alastair Maxwell joined GasLog in February 2017 following 29 years in investment banking and was appointed CFO of GasLog and GasLog Partners in March 2017. His wealth of experience in both energy and finance has been a major asset to the Group across all areas of the Finance function, including leading the debt and equity capital raisings to fund the Group’s expansion.
Achilleas Tasioulas became Deputy CFO of GasLog in December 2019. He joined GasLog in October 2014 as Financial Controller and his role was expanded to Chief Risk Officer, Financial Controller and Head of Tax in August 2017. Achilleas is also a Board Member of Gastrade and a Director of several Group subsidiaries. Immediately prior to joining GasLog, Achilleas was Corporate Controller for NYSE-listed Danaos Corporation for 6 years. He is an ICAEW Fellow Chartered Accountant, has an MSc in Project Analysis, Finance and Investments from the University of York and a BSc in Economics from the University of Macedonia in Greece.
Paul Wogan, GasLog CEO, said, “On behalf of our Chairman Peter Livanos, the Board of GasLog and the Management team, I would like to thank Alastair for the expertise, skill and guidance he has provided over the last 3 years and I wish him continued personal and professional success. I am pleased to congratulate Achilleas on his promotion to CFO. His deep commitment to GasLog, understanding of our business and hands-on experience in Controlling, Financial Reporting, Risk Management and Tax are a huge asset as GasLog focuses on financial resilience, discipline and de-leveraging.”
Andy Orekar, GasLog Partners CEO, said, “On behalf of our Chairman Curt Anastasio and the Board of GasLog Partners, I would like to thank Alastair for his outstanding support of the Partnership’s growth strategy and track record of raising capital in challenging market conditions. Achilleas’ significant contributions to the finance activities of GasLog Partners make him an ideal candidate to succeed Alastair, and his leadership capabilities, risk-based approach and management expertise will be incredibly helpful in the coming years.”
Achilleas Tasioulas commented, “I am delighted to be stepping up to be CFO of GasLog and GasLog Partners at such an important time in the LNG market and in the development of the Group. I look forward to working closely with the rest of the leadership team to harvest our inbuilt growth and to continue to strengthen our financial position today and in the future.”
Everest Announces Senior Management Transition
Everest Re Group, Ltd. (“Everest”) announced that Jonathan Zaffino, President & CEO of the Everest Insurance® Division, has resigned to pursue another opportunity. He will remain on garden leave until mid-June.
Juan C. Andrade, Everest President and Chief Executive Officer commented:
“Since joining Everest just over five years ago, Jon and the Insurance leadership team have built Everest Insurance® into a world-class specialty insurer. I appreciate Jon’s contributions to date and wish him well in his future endeavors.
At Everest, we have a deep bench, a talented insurance leadership team, and a strong and diversified platform. We remain focused on delivering superior insurance products and solutions to our broker partners and clients. Our strategy, our mission, our focus, our objectives and our culture all remain unchanged. We will continue to execute and outperform. Effective today, the Everest Insurance® senior leadership team will be reporting directly to me. I have great confidence in their abilities and look forward to continuing on our journey of success.”