Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Fitch Sees Only ‘Modest Impact’ on U.S. P/C Insurance from Coronavirus
Mar 3 2020 // The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak is not currently anticipated to have a meaningful adverse impact on financial results reported by U.S. property/casualty companies, nor their ratings, according to Fitch Ratings. The...
Homes in Flood Plains May Be Overvalued by $34 Billion
Mar 3 2020 // At least 3.8 million U.S. homes lie in flood plains. Together, they may be overvalued by $34 billion. New research published Monday in a National Bureau of Economic Research working paper shows that markets fail to...
UK Financial Services Could Fare Less Well in U.S. Trade Deal than Energy, Cars
Mar 3 2020 // Britain’s financial services industry could fare less well than energy, autos and other sectors under a free trade deal with the United States, the government said on Monday. Britain said in its negotiating mandate...
Update: Swiss Re Plans to Make UBS CEO Ermotti Its Chairman in 2021
Mar 3 2020 // Swiss Re plans to make UBS Group Chief Executive Sergio Ermotti its chairman from next year, the world’s second-biggest reinsurer said on Tuesday, turning to a financial industry veteran with scant insurance...
America’s Farmers Brace for Another Season of Costly River Flooding
Mar 3 2020 // For the second year in a row, much of the U.S. is primed to suffer multi-billion dollar flood losses, with farmers already steeling themselves for planting delays. Relentless storms that have marched across the Midwest and...
Wisconsin Bar Owner Found Guilty of Arson, Insurance Fraud
Mar 2 2020 // A bar owner in Waukesha, Wisconsin, has been found guilty of intentionally setting fire to his business, as well as several felony offenses related to the arson. According to U.S. Attorney Matthew D. Krueger with the U.S....
Supreme Court Ruling on Fate of Obamacare Likely After November Election
Mar 2 2020 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear a politically explosive case on whether Obamacare is lawful, taking up a bid by 20 Democratic-led states including New York and California to save the landmark healthcare...
U.S. Probes Batch of Faulty Coronavirus Test Kits
Mar 2 2020 // The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services confirmed on Sunday that it is investigating a manufacturing defect in some initial coronavirus test kits that prompted some states to seek emergency approval to use their...
U.S. Lags Europe in Driver Assist Technology Safety Testing
Mar 2 2020 // Autopilot, Super Cruise and Drive Pilot are different names given to technology that automates steering and braking in a growing number of vehicles, but none of it can safely “pilot” cars without regular human...
Agency M&As: Private Equity Still in Driver’s Seat; Digital Agencies Attract Attention
Mar 2 2020 // The private equity bandwagon continued to roll through the insurance agency and brokerage mergers and acquisitions territory in 2019. As many as two-thirds of all deals involved private equity, according to experts. Most...
USDA’s Wildfire Indemnity Program Offers Possible Drought Assistance for California Farmers
Feb 28 2020 // U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced additional disaster assistance available to agricultural producers, including producers impacted by drought and excess moisture as well as sugar beet growers. California...
Trucking Can Be Deadly. And Not Just For Truckers.: Viewpoint
Feb 28 2020 // Of the major industries for which the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported workplace fatality rates for 2018, truck transportation was the most dangerous, with 28 deaths per 100,000 full-time-equivalent workers. To be sure,...
Update on Puerto Rico Disaster Recovery
Feb 28 2020 // The newly appointed U.S. official charged with overseeing disaster recovery in Puerto Rico said this week that while the pace of federally funded projects to help hurricane and earthquake victims has quickened, he’s...
Arkema, Executives Accused of Failures in Chemical Fire at Texas Plant
Feb 28 2020 // Jurors in the criminal case against the U.S. arm of a French company on Feb. 27 heard it routinely stored combustible chemicals where floodwaters could reach them and failed to alert emergency workers as toxic fires...
California Worries About Drought and Wildfires Amid Dry Winter
Feb 28 2020 // California officials are bracing for the potential of another drought and an early and more intense wildfire season amid a record-breaking warm and dry February. February is shaping up to be driest on record for much of...
Nationwide, Generali Form Joint Venture N2G to Sell Multinational Commercial Lines
Feb 27 2020 // Trieste, Italy meet Columbus, Ohio. Ciao! Hello! Two large insurers — Ohio’s Nationwide and Italy’s Generali — are teaming up to serve commercial insurance customers with global needs. The insurers...
Congress Urged to Uphold, Not Override, State Privacy Laws
Feb 27 2020 // California Attorney General Xavier Becerra on Tuesday sent a letter to four top U.S. lawmakers urging them not to pre-empt the state’s new privacy law with a watered down federal legislation. The California Consumer...
AM Best Downgrades Argo’s Credit Ratings After a Disappointing Q4
Feb 27 2020 // Argo Group International Holdings, already reeling from a tough 2019 fourth quarter and year, now must deal with downgraded credit ratings from AM Best. The Bermuda-based specialty insurer and reinsurer had its long-term...
Self-Driving EasyMile Shuttles Suspended After Passenger Injury in Ohio
Feb 26 2020 // U.S. vehicle safety regulators on Feb. 25 said they had ordered a suspension of passenger operations for 16 autonomous shuttles operated by France-based EasyMile after a passenger was injured in an unexplained braking...
NiSource’s Columbia Gas to Pay $53M, Plead Guilty for Massachusetts Gas Explosions
Feb 26 2020 // Columbia Gas of Massachusetts has agreed to accept responsibility for the gas explosions on Sept. 13, 2018, in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover that killed one individual, injured 22, and damaged homes and...
