National News for December 2008 Former AIG CEO Willumstad Foregoes Some Stock Awards Insurers Say Fair Value Accounting Was a ‘Powerful Accelerant’ to Credit Crisis Advisen Predicts Hardening of Commercial Insurance in Late 2009 Study: Deadliest Hotspots for Teen Crashes on New Year’s Holiday Survey: Insurance Ranks No. 2 as Most Important Bill to Pay On-Time Fireman’s Fund Offers Insurance for Small Hotels, Motels, Inns AIG Buys $16 Billion of Collateralized Debt Obligations It Insured for Default Carefree Country Living? Study Finds Injury Rates Higher in Rural Areas Best Removes Hartford from Review; Affirms ‘A+’ Ratings Best Affirms Chubb and Subsidiaries ‘A++’ Ratings Insurers Beginning to Weigh Economic Capital Modeling in Strategizing Ratings Roundup: Cooperative Mutual, Great Northwest Aon Names Meissner Global Controller Workplace Injury Rates Lower for Foreign-born Workers, Study Finds Deluge of Lawsuits by Angry Madoff Investors Expected U.S. Insurers Increasingly Outsourcing Actuarial Work to Overseas Talent Scottsdale Launches Canada Partnership with Co-operators Limited Designated Operations Endorsements Coverage Gaps: Myths And Realities – Part II Zurich Insurance Says It’s Actively Looking for Acquisitions FTC Probing Insurers Over Credit-based Homeowners Insurance Pricing Ratings Recap: Max America, Professionals Direct, Great Western, Seven Seas Insurers Balk at FTC Order for Consumer Data in Credit Score Probe Brownyard Introduces Wildlife Management Program Insurer is ‘Torturing’ Policy Using Pollution Exclusion to Deny Death Claims Navigators Launches Environmental Unit; AIG’s Robinson Named VP ‘Death Map’ Geographers Compare Natural Event Fatalities by County Subprime Lawsuits Already Up 50% and No End in Sight Zurich Gaining Commercial Insurance Clients Away from Rivals Munich Re to Buy Hartford Steam Boiler from AIG for $747 Million What Are The Coverage Gaps Created By The Limited Operations Endorsements? Ho-Ho-Ho Holiday Parties? Survey Says Homeowners Unaware of Risks CRC Insurance to Acquire North Carolina-Based TAPCO Underwriters Retail, Wholesale Insurance Brokers Working on Electronic Transactions CNA Surety Announces Resignation of Lewis, Chairman, Board of Directors Dunmoyer to Lead State Government Affairs for Farmers, Zurich in U.S. Best Upgrades Allianz (US) Ratings to ‘A+’; Affirms Fireman’s Fund Ratings: ANICO, Washington Casualty, Grain Dealers, Nat’l. Guaranty, Am. Physicians P/C Profits to Plunge 80% in 2009: Fitch AIG Shareholder Suit Settled Insurer: More Home Fires Occur During Holidays Than Any Other Time Smaller Cars Making Strides in Safety, Insurance Group Reports SEC Moves to Regulate Some Equity Indexed Annuities Travelers Redesigns Design Professionals’ Insurance Product Darwin, Swett Form Partnership for Managed Care Program Hiscox Appoints Gadaleta, Leisz to Head Management Liability Division ‘Judicial Hellhole’ Report Pushes Need for Balanced Civil Justice System Supreme Court Allows State Suits Over ‘Light’ Cigarettes to Go Forward Commercial Insurance Prices Dropped 4% in Q3, Reports Towers Perrin Forecast Pioneer Clark Says Short-Term Hurricane Models Overstate Losses Study: Identifying At-Risk Auto Customers Critical for Carrier Retention Supreme Court to Hear $500M Asbestos Case Against Travelers AIG Sells Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Portfolio to Government Medical Liability Insurer Proassurance Buys Houston’s Mid-Continent Agency Lawsuit Seeks to Stop U.S. Bailout of AIG as Anti-Christian, Anti-U.S. Industry Profits Dove Massively through First Nine Months of 2008 Ex-General Re Chief Ferguson Sentenced 2 Years for Fraud Colo. Forecasters Expect Busy 2009 Hurricane Season S&P Raises Chubb’s Ratings to ‘A+’ Progressive Nixes 2008 Dividend as Year-End Loss Expected New York Insurance Chief Sees Multiple Regulators for Credit Swaps S&P: Challenging Times Loom For U.S. Insurers in 2009 Federal Inspectors Complete Safety Reviews of Nation’s Mines U.S. Needs More Study on Risks of Nanotechnology: Research Council Maryland’s Rep. Cummings Seeks Details on AIG ‘Retention Payments’ Insurers’ Backing Sought for Car Key That Jams Teen Drivers’ Cell Phones Insiders Say AIG Slashing Prices to Win Business in Moves That May Burn Rivals, Taxpayers AIG CEO Liddy Says Asset Sales May Be Delayed Economic Crisis Leaves States Less Ready to Handle Disasters Judge: Class-Action Against Toy Makers Can Proceed Pole-Climbing Robots Could Save Lives of Construction Workers Study: Independent Agency System Stable and Growing AIG Owes $10 Billion for Soured Trades, Wall Street Journal Reports AIG’s Lexington Loses Another Top Executive as Kelly Joins Ironshore Over-Reliance on Models One Lesson of Subprime Crisis, Actuaries Say Brownyard Offers Admitted Market for Alarm Program AIG: Wall Street Journal Wrong on Report on $10 Billion Portfolio Study: Flood Program Premiums Do Not Adequately Reflect Flood Risk Report: D&O Market Braces For Steep Downturn Five Firms Vying for AIG Japan Units AIG Names Eastwood to Replace Kelley as CEO at Lexington Insurance Former Lexington Insurance CEO Kelley Named CEO at Ironshore S&P Warns of ‘Multi-Notch Downgrades’ on 5 Mortgage Insurers Doctors Still Sleep Deprived Despite Hours Cap: U.S. Report Ratings Recap: Phila. Consolid., AmCOMP, Medical Savings, Hospitals Ex-CEO Greenberg: AIG Needs Unified Plan Quickly to Recover The Hartford Soars on Higher Outlook; Strong Capital Reassures Investors Obama Laying Groundwork for Overhaul of U.S. Health Insurance CLARIFICATION: Public Entity Claims Growth Due to Jump in Members Montpelier Group Licenses AIR Worldwide’s U.S. Crop Model 1 in 3 Toys Have Toxic Chemicals, Kids’ Safety Group Study Finds Car Thieves Work Year Round, Even on Holidays, Warns Crime Bureau New Federal Safety Rules Target Medically Unfit Truck, Bus Drivers Prudential to Sell Securities Brokerage Business Stake to Wells Fargo Premium Rating Errors Cost Auto Insurers $16 Billion, Report Claims Financial and Housing Crises, Soft Market to Challenge Insurers in 2009 AIG in Deal with U.S. Government to Terminate Some Debt Obligations Keystone Insurers Group Honors 3 Agency Partners Canada’s Natural Gas Firm Tenaska Buys Back Interests from AIG FDA Cites Progress on Food Safety Financial Firms Sign Pact to Bar Lawsuits Over Employee Poaching Obama Inauguration May Raise Insurance, Legal Issues for Enterprising Homeowners Workers Comp, Liability Claims Against Public Sector Exploding AIG Offers First Takaful Homeowners Insurance Product for U.S. Nation’s Fire Departments Face Challenges in Staffing, Water Access Ratings: Ancon/Petroleum Casualty, Horace Mann, Great Northwest Electronic Health Records May Lower Malpractice Settlements: Study Aon Completes Acquisition of Benfield; Restructuring Includes Layoffs Hanover Insurance Completes Acquisition of Specialty Program Writer AIX National News Archives
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