Latest USA Headlines

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

Trump, EU Agree to Trade Talks; Place Auto Tariffs on Hold

Jul 26 2018 // In what the EU chief called a “major concession,” U.S. President Donald Trump agreed on Wednesday to refrain from imposing car tariffs while the two sides launch negotiations to cut other trade barriers, easing...

India’s HPCL Cancels Iran Oil Purchase After Insurer Refuses to Provide Cover: Sources

Jul 26 2018 // India’s Hindustan Petroleum Corp. (HPCL) canceled the purchase of an Iranian oil cargo earlier this month after its insurance company refused to provide coverage for the crude because of U.S. sanctions, three sources...

Global H1 Insured Natural Disaster Losses 40% Lower than 10-Year Average: Aon

Jul 26 2018 // Global insured losses from natural disasters for the first half were preliminarily estimated at US$21 billion, which is 40 percent lower than the 10-year average of US$35 billion and 19 percent lower than the 18-year...

Reinsurer SCOR Reports 37% Drop in Q2 Net Profit on U.S. Tax Reform

Jul 26 2018 // French reinsurer SCOR said its net profit in the second quarter of this year fell 37 percent to 96 million euros ($112.58 million) because of an accounting charge related to tax reforms in the United States. Excluding the...

San Francisco May Screen Insurers for Their Fossil Fuels Investments

Jul 26 2018 // The San Francisco Board of Supervisors has become what is believed to be the first U.S. municipal body to try to force insurance companies to stop insuring and investing in fossil fuels. The board on Tuesday voted...

Ascot Creates U.S. Trade Credit Division; Hires Collins, Barrett to Lead

Jul 25 2018 // Bermuda-based specialty insurer Ascot has created a trade credit insurance division with the appointments of Doug Collins as executive vice president of Trade Credit and Anthony Barrett as senior vice president of Trade...

Study Warns of Cyber Hacking Risk to Firms Using SAP, Oracle Management Software

Jul 25 2018 // At least a dozen companies and government agencies have been targeted and thousands more are exposed to data breaches by hackers exploiting old security flaws in management software, two cyber security firms said in a...

Flood Model Development Helps Hiscox Re & ILS Enter U.S. Flood Protection Market

Jul 25 2018 // Less than 12 percent of U.S. homeowners have a flood insurance policy, despite the fact that flooding is the country’s most common natural disaster, said Katy Sivyer, underwriter for North America and the Caribbean...

Court: Georgia Worker Not Protected from Firing Because of Sexual Orientation

Jul 25 2018 // A federal appeals court in Atlanta last week reaffirmed its decision that workers aren’t protected against workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, though two of the 11 judges strongly disagreed. Gerald...

Chicago Insurance Exec Accused of $13.5M Fraud

Jul 24 2018 // A Chicago-based vice president of an insurance underwriting group fraudulently obtained more than $13.5 million from a corporate client by fraudulently issuing and collecting premium payments on “matching...

M&A Deals Likely to Become More Challenging as Sellers Seek High Deal Values

Jul 24 2018 // The current operating environment continues to prompt mergers & acquisitions (M&A) among insurers and reinsurers. However, the number of potential M&A candidates has declined and sellers’ expectations of...

National Security Agency Chief Forms Task Force to Counter Russian Cyber Threats

Jul 24 2018 // Paul Nakasone, U.S. cyber commander and director of the National Security Agency, confirmed that he’s created a special task force to address Russian threats in cyberspace. Russia has “great capabilities on...

The Legal Engine Driving More Than 800 Lawsuits Against Opioid Makers

Jul 24 2018 // The place might sound familiar, even if you’ve never been there: the Appalachian foothills, down by the Ohio River, where the sirens scream addiction and death. Twenty-six overdoses in one afternoon. The highest...

CRU GROUP Welcomes New USA, Senior Business Development Leader

Jul 24 2018 // Toronto, Ontario Canada, July 24, 2018 – Kyle Winston, President and CEO of CRU GROUP, today announced the hiring of Laura Pastore as the new Vice President U.S. Business Development for Catastrophe Response Unit...

U.S. Flood Models Still in Infancy, So Underwriters Must Be ‘Cautious Consumers’

Jul 24 2018 // The market for privately written inland flood insurance in the United States is growing rapidly, but flood modeling is still in its infancy. As a result, underwriters need to be aware of the differences that exist among...

Inspector Last Year Reported Sunken Missouri Duck Boat Had Design Flaws

Jul 23 2018 // A private inspector said Saturday that he warned the company operating duck boats on a Missouri lake about design flaws putting the watercraft at greater risk of sinking, less than a year before the accident that killed 17...

What’s New in Today’s Construction Insurance Market

Jul 23 2018 // Brokers who specialize in the construction industry love their clients and are very committed to keeping up with their needs. Ask them, “So what’s new?” and the conversations inevitably veer off in...

Bayer to Discontinue Sales of Essure Birth Control Device as U.S. Lawsuits Mount

Jul 23 2018 // The maker of a permanent contraceptive implant subject to thousands of injury reports and repeated safety restrictions by regulators said Friday that it will stop selling the device in the U.S., the only country where it...

Texas Stamping Office: National E&S Insurance Premium Up 9.4% at Mid-Year

Jul 23 2018 // Excess and surplus lines (E&S) insurance premium recorded by the 15 managing service offices in the United States increased 9.4 percent as of the 2018 mid-year point, the Surplus Lines Stamping Office of Texas (SLTX)...

Court Allows Trial in Children’s Lawsuit Against U.S. Over Climate Change

Jul 23 2018 // A federal appeals court in San Francisco on Friday rejected the Trump administration’s renewed bid to dismiss a lawsuit by young activists who say the U.S. government is ignoring the perils of climate change. By a...