Latest Legislation Headlines

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

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Aug 2 2010 // Stephen M. Franz was named senior vice president of Dallas-based managing general agency and wholesale broker Capstone Underwriters LLC. Franz has been with Capstone since 2004. Prior to Capstone, he held positions at all...

Globalization: How Systemic Risks Have Altered the Financial World

Aug 2 2010 // When the present Lloyd’s building was completed in 1986, the architecture was called high tech, but inside you would have found that the offices contained no Internet, no e-mails and no World Wide Web. Since the...

House Set to Debate Oil Liability Bill

Jul 30 2010 // Three months after the catastrophic oil rig explosion that sent millions of gallons of crude spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, the House of was poised Friday to debate legislation clamping down on the industry’s...

Congress Set to Tackle Oil Spill Liability, Drilling Safety

Jul 28 2010 // U.S. Senate Democrats are set to unveil a slimmed-down energy bill Tuesday aimed at reforming offshore drilling, but House lawmakers are taking up a tougher bill on Friday that adds another hurdle to get a bill signed into...

Mine Safety Officials Rebut Massey On Ventilation Claims

Jul 26 2010 // Mine safety officials are painting a portrait of ineptitude and confusion by officials at Massey Energy Co. in the months before an explosion at the company’s West Virginia mine killed 29 men. The depiction —...

Wyoming Aims to Decrease Workplace Fatalities

Jul 26 2010 // Many years ago when Mindy Hixon started working in the family trucking business in Carbon County, Wyo., she realized safety wasn’t a top priority. “I knew for a fact what we were doing was illegal, unsafe and...

Best Comments on Impact of Dodd-Frank Act on Rating Agencies

Jul 23 2010 // The recently enacted Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act has specific provisions applicable to rating agencies. A comment on the Act’s potential impact from A.M. Best notes that the...

House Committee Passes Mine Safety Bill As Industry Protests

Jul 23 2010 // A House panel this week approved sweeping mine and workplace safety reforms prompted by the deadly explosion in April that killed 29 coal miners in West Virginia. The 30-17 vote came over the objections of the mine...

S&P Comments on Dodd-Frank Act’s Implications for Insurers

Jul 23 2010 // A comment from Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services notes that the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act “seeks to expand regulation to address many aspects of the financial services...

Wis. Supreme Court Sides with Physicians in Med Mal Trust Fund Fight

Jul 21 2010 // The Wisconsin Supreme Court has decided that the state’s taking of $200 million from the Wisconsin’s Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund (IPFCF) to help balance the general budget was...

President Signs Historic Financial Reform Legislation

Jul 21 2010 // President Barack Obama on Wednesday signed a sweeping overhaul of the financial regulatory system. The “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,” drafted in response to the recent financial...

Judge Approves Goldman’s $500 Million Settlement with SEC

Jul 21 2010 // A federal judge has approved a $550 million settlement between Goldman Sachs and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to civil fraud allegations in a subprime mortgage product. U.S. District Court Judge...

Judge Rejects Insurers’ Bid to Nix Probe into Oxendine Donations

Jul 20 2010 // A Fulton County judge tossed an attempt by two insurance companies that sought to block an ethics investigation into contributions to Republican gubernatorial hopeful John Oxendine. Judge Kimberly Esmond Adams said in her...

Los Angeles Judge Dismisses Sterility Verdict Against Dole

Jul 19 2010 // A judge on Thursday dismissed a $2.3 million judgment against Dole Food Co. in a lawsuit by purported Nicaraguan banana workers, ruling that the company and the court were victims of a massive fraud. Los Angeles Superior...

Davis Honored with Insurance Council of Texas’ Raymond Mauk Award

Jul 16 2010 // Will Davis, a partner with the law firm of Thompson, Coe, Cousins and Irons LLC, has been presented the Raymond Mauk Leadership Award at the Insurance Council of Texas’ 18th Annual Mid-Year Property and Casualty...

How Financial Reform Package Affects Insurance, Surplus Lines

Jul 16 2010 // The Senate has passed the Dodd-Frank financial services reform package that will have some impact on the insurance industry and add involvement by the federal government in the state-based insurance regulatory system. The...

Mining Firms Complain Democrats’ Safety Bill Too Harsh

Jul 15 2010 // The nation’s top mine safety official urged quick passage this week of a bill that would crack down on mines with safety problems, despite industry complaints that the legislation is too punitive. Mine Safety and...

Hearing Scheduled Today on HR 3424, Reinsurance Tax Bill

Jul 13 2010 // HR 3424 will be the subject of a hearing House by the House Representatives Ways and Means Committee today at 10:00 a.m. The Bill, sponsored by Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-MA), has been the subject of a lengthy debate [See IJ...

Illinois Set to Implement State-Based Licensing System for Producers

Jul 13 2010 // The Illinois Department of Insurance has announced that on July 26, 2010, it will implement the State-Based Systems (SBS) licensing system. SBS will allow producer licensing functions to be completed electronically through...

The Growing Risks of Social Media

Jul 12 2010 // Asked why he robbed banks, Willie Sutton famously replied: “Because that’s where the money is.” Something similar can be said to explain why companies are paying more attention to social media these days...