Excess capacity and competition between carriers in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region has been less intense than previously, claims broker Marsh in its EMEA Insurance Market Report 2012. However, Marsh said that clients with a favourable claims record were usually still able to obtain rate reductions for property and liability lines. Marsh observed that the motor market in EMEA had seen increases in nearly all geographies, "as insurers' loss ratios are unsustainable at current levels". Marsh expects the market to continue to harden in 2012. However, in Financial and Professional lines there was an inconsistent picture. Larger financial institutions had found it harder to get rate reductions, "as these are the institutions the insurers are most concerned about in terms of exposure to the euro crisis and those with ongoing claims". Marsh also noted that last year's "Arab Spring" had a profound impact on benefits insurers' decision-making. Political violence was now ranked one of the most serious employee risks. In Europe, Marsh said that costs relating to Solvency II compliance were also likely to support pricing levels. Martin South, CEO of Marsh Europe, said that "rather than concentrate solely on cost, our advice to clients is that they should focus on deepening relationships with their existing insurers". This would include the provision of strong data and clear evidence of risk management.