recession proveunexpectedly severe, would be made public on May 4. The official said regulators will try to prove the rigor ofthe tests by releasing a document on Friday that explains theunderlying assumptions. The document will outline themethodologies employed and serve as a guide on how to interpretthe results. (Reporting by Jennifer Robin Raj in Bangalore; editing by JohnWallace) Stocks Regulatory News Bonds.

DUBLIN–(Business Wire)–Research and Markets( http://) hasannounced the addition of the “Estonia Insurance Report 2009″ report to theiroffering. The most striking change since the last report has been the rapid development ofthe now worldwide credit crisis and the subsequent recession following on fromit. The Estonian general economy is already experiencing markedly negative yearon year rates of growth. So, while the macroeconomic imbalances that developedin the preceding boom were less in Estonia than those of the other Balticstates, it remains an emerging market and Europe in general faces a protractedperiod of negative and then low growth. Nonetheless, the following features, which make Estonia attractive for itsstability, will also tend to insulate it from the more severe effects of thiscrisis.

At first glance, Estonia is an attractive long-term proposition for thosemultinational insurers who are looking to expand their businesses in Central andEastern Europe. The structure – and apparent risks – associated with the economyare relatively low. Penetration and density levels are low, but are rising fast.Both segments should easily achieve double-digit growth over the five years to2012. Unlike many of the formerly Communist-ruled countries in the region,neither the non-life nor the life segment is dominated by a former state-ownedmonopoly However, there are two problems The first is actual and potential size. Unlessit is a very rich offshore financial centre (which Estonia manifestly is not),any country with a static population of about 1.3mn people is unlikely torepresent a potential bonanza to ambitious regional insurance companies. Indeed,the small size of the market, both now and in 2013, is the main reason whyEstonia does not compare more favourably with other markets in the region. It isworth noting, though, that the new Insurance Business Environment Rating theauthor has calculated for Estonia is higher than those of either Latvia orLithuania.

The second problem is that the dominant players are already established. In thenon-life segment, local subsidiaries of Finland’s Sampo and Germany’s ERGO havea combined market share of around 60%. In life, the names are Hansabank/Swedbank and SEB/Uhisbank, but the figures areabout the same. * Like-for-like volume decline of 6.3 pct Stocks * Revenue fell 1 pct on like-for-like basis * Says impact and duration of downturn unclear * Shares slip to near five-week low (Updates after CFO conference call) By Philip Blenkinsop BRUSSELS, April 22 (Reuters) – Heineken NV (HEIN.AS), theworld’s third-largest brewer, suffered a bigger-than-expecteddrop in volume of beer shipped in the first quarter and said theimpact and duration of the downturn remained unclear.