French banking group BNP Paribas has announced that its insurance business arm, Cardif, has entered into an agreement with Caisse Nationale d'Epargne et de Prevoyance to jointly sell a range of insurance products in Algeria.

The agreement will allow Cardif to sell life and savings products through more than 200 branches of its Algerian partner.

The two companies are also planning to start a joint venture company in the future to pursue the business.

Insurer charges top execs misappropriated $20 billion in stock

Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, former Chairman and CEO of AIG Insurance, is seen speaking at the Wall Street Journal conference in New York last year.  AIG is suing Greenberg and six other former directors and officers, accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty.

NEW YORK - American International Group Inc has filed a complaint in New York Supreme Court against former Chief Executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg and six other former directors and officers, accusing them of breaching their fiduciary duty.

In the complaint, filed on Wednesday, AIG alleges Greenberg, former Chief Financial Officer Howard Smith and five others breached their fiduciary duty through "misappropriation of a special block of AIG shares worth approximately $20 billion in 2005."

The shares were held by Starr International Co Inc, a company that had been affiliated with AIG and had been used as a special compensation vehicle for chosen employees of the insurer.

You would never take out an insurance policy on behalf of your bank and pay its premiums, would you? But that’s exactly what you’re doing when your credit card company convinces you to buy life and disability insurance. The sales pitch plays upon fears of the unknown:

What if you became ill or disabled and couldn’t make your monthly minimum payments?
Wouldn’t you want the peace of mind knowing that an insurance policy will make those payments for you so your credit rating remains in good standing?

If you lose your life, your family would not have to make your minimums either. All for a low, percentage-of-your-balance fee.