Latest Legislation Headlines

All the headlines from our Legislation Topic Page, ordered by recency.

After JPMorgan $13B Deal, Banks Seek Protections in Future Bailouts

Oct 24 2013 // As the U.S. government closes in on a $13 billion settlement with JPMorgan Chase & Co. over its mortgage practices, lawyers specializing in bank mergers are looking for ways to protect their clients from big losses in...

Florida Regulators Disapprove NCCI’s 1% WC Rate Increase Proposal

Oct 23 2013 // Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty today issued an order notifying the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) that its 1-percent proposed annual rate filing increase in Florida’s workers’...

U.S. Unveils Draft of Voluntary Corporate Cybersecurity Standards

Oct 22 2013 // A U.S. bureau on Tuesday unveiled a draft of voluntary standards that companies can adopt to boost cybersecurity – part of an attempt to protect critical industries without setting restrictive and costly...

Illinois Bills Call for Stiffer Penalties for Boating DUI

Oct 22 2013 // Illinois lawmakers are considering a series of measures aimed at making the state’s waterways safer, including a bill that would impose stiffer penalties on people caught operating a boat while intoxicated. The...

Supreme Court Declines Privacy Claim Against Resale of Driving Records

Oct 22 2013 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider whether a unit of Thomson Reuters Corp. can obtain and sell information on drivers provided by state agencies without violating a federal privacy law. The decision not...

Insurer Plans IPO Despite Not Making Profit Yet

Oct 21 2013 // NMI Holdings Inc., the mortgage guarantor backed by Kyle Bass, Carlyle Group LP and BlueMountain Capital Management LLC, is seeking to be the first U.S. insurer since 2009 to file an initial public offering without posting...

Insurer Complaints

Oct 21 2013 // It’s no surprise that claims handling ranks in the top 10 when it comes to insurer complaints, but producer licensing issues also appear to be a top grievance. According to a new report by Waltham, Mass.-based...

Is Private Market an Option for Florida Flood Insurance?

Oct 21 2013 // With thousands of Florida homeowners facing significant increases in their federal flood insurance premiums, state lawmakers are considering ways to open up the market to private insurers. Industry experts, however, say...

Florida Enters Era of Workers’ Compensation Market Stability

Oct 21 2013 // Florida’s workers’ compensation system has reached a rare state of rate stability, according to insurers and officials. The agency, the National Council on Compensation Insurance, filed for a one percent...

Louisiana High Court Strikes Down Immigrant Driver Law

Oct 18 2013 // The Louisiana Supreme Court has struck down a state law that made it a crime for people who aren’t U.S. citizens to drive here without carrying proof of their immigration status. The divided court ruled that the...

Kansas Judge Says Test in DUI Case Can Be Suppressed

Oct 18 2013 // A Douglas County judge has ruled that a blood test from a DUI case in Lawrence, Kan., will be suppressed, rejecting the state’s argument that the test was lawful. Douglas County District Judge Kay Huff granted Julian...

Florida Highway Trooper Wants Name Cleared in Lawmaker Ticketing Case

Oct 18 2013 // A Florida Highway Patrol trooper who got in trouble over giving breaks to state legislators wants an appeals court to clear his name. An attorney for Trooper Charles Swindle said that Swindle was appealing to the 1st...

Allianz CEO Says New Regulation to Create Room for Acquisitions

Oct 17 2013 // Allianz SE’s CEO Michael Diekmann said tougher financial regulation will create takeover opportunities for Europe’s biggest insurer. “If Solvency II and Basel III mean more capital, then it’s hard...

Connecticut Announces Its 3rd Licensed Captive Insurance Company

Oct 16 2013 // Connecticut Gov. Dannel P. Malloy announced last week that the corporate owner of one of the largest grocery store chains in New York City is setting up its captive insurance subsidiary in Connecticut. The Red Apple Group,...

Mass. AG Proposes Limiting Amount of Mandatory Flood Insurance for Homeowners

Oct 16 2013 // In an effort to assist homeowners facing significant flood insurance increases due to FEMA’s updated and expanded flood zone maps, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and the House Speaker Robert DeLeo have...

Florida Supports Mississippi Suit Against Flood Insurance Hikes

Oct 16 2013 // Florida officials plan to file a brief in support of Mississippi’s lawsuit against the federal government in an attempt to block flood insurance rate hikes called for under recent reform legislation. Gov. Rick Scott...

Rural Groups Push Back on Crop Insurance Cuts

Oct 16 2013 // Rural groups say they’ll fight a proposed $100 million-a-year cut in crop insurance subsidies, a measure that has won the support of both houses of Congress and could be a test of agriculture’s influence in...

Interesting but Quiet Year for California Lawmakers on Workers’ Comp

Oct 15 2013 // After the behemoth workers’ compensation reform law passed in 2012, state lawmakers this year enacted only a handful of measures that may affect or relate to workers’ compensation. Bills signed by Gov. Jerry...

IAIS Plan for Re/Insurers’ Systemic Risks ‘Debatable’ Says UK Expert

Oct 15 2013 // “The IAIS, with its proposal for additional risk-adjusted capital rules for major re/insurers, seems to be joining the regulatory bandwagon for seeing these as a potential source of threat to the global financial...

Rhode Island Lawmakers Get Grim Report on Sea Level Rise

Oct 14 2013 // Sea levels will rise in Rhode Island by as much as 5 feet as climate change reshapes the coastline over the next century, the state’s top coastal resource official told lawmakers on Oct. 10. In a grim presentation to...