Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Snoozing While Cruising Argues for Full Autonomy in Vehicles
Feb 21 2017 // As Ford Motor Co. has been developing self-driving cars, the U.S. automaker has started noticing a problem during test drives: Engineers monitoring the robot rides are dozing off. Company researchers have tried to roust...
17 Million U.S. Homes Worth $4.9 Trillion Are in Environmental Hazard Zones
Feb 20 2017 // Millions of homes and condominiums across the country are in high danger zones for environmental hazards. According to the Environmental Hazards Housing Risk Index, produced by ATTOM Data Solutions, 17.3 million single...
People
Feb 20 2017 // U.S. Risk, a global property/casualty wholesaler and managing general agency based in Dallas, named Wayne H. Carter III as president of U.S. Risk Underwriters Inc., its programs group. Carter assumes senior level...
U.S. Estimates Hurricane Matthew Damage to Recreational Boats at $110M
Feb 20 2017 // Hurricane Matthew, which threatened four coastal states as it corkscrewed through the Atlantic in early October, caused an estimated $110 million in damage to recreational boats, according to Boat Owners Association of The...
Business Moves
Feb 20 2017 // Markel, SureTec Markel Corp. has agreed to acquire surety firm SureTec for approximately $250 million, inclusive of a three-year earn out. SureTec is one of the largest privately owned surety companies in the U.S....
Wisconsin Farmer Sentenced for Federal Crop Insurance Fraud
Feb 17 2017 // John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Mark E. Johnson, 50, a farmer in Dresser, Wis., was sentenced on Feb. 13, 2017, in a federal crop insurance fraud case. During...
Global Insurance Rate Decreases in Q4 Slowed for 4th Consecutive Quarter: Marsh
Feb 17 2017 // Global insurance rate decreases moderated on average for the fourth consecutive quarter, down 3.1 percent (compared to the previous quarter’s decrease of 3.2 percent), according to Marsh’s Global Insurance...
What Happens if Trump Pulls U.S. Out of Paris Agreement?
Feb 16 2017 // Dam climate change. An opinion piece in the New York Times is offering a tie-in between global warming and the potential disaster unfolding at the Oroville Dam in Northern California. “After five years of...
Anthem Not Giving Up on Merger with Cigna Even If Cigna Is
Feb 15 2017 // Anthem Inc. on Wednesday won a temporary restraining order that blocks smaller rival Cigna Corp. from officially terminating their proposed $54 billion merger, a transaction already rejected by U.S. antitrust...
Lance Armstrong Loses Bid to Stop $100M Federal lawsuit
Feb 15 2017 // A federal judge has refused to block the government’s $100 million lawsuit against Lance Armstrong, putting the former cyclist on course for trial in a 2010 case stemming from his performance-enhancing drug use. The...
AIG’s Losing Streak Continued in Q4
Feb 15 2017 // American International Group Inc. posted its fourth loss in six quarters, burned again by higher-than-expected claims costs as Chief Executive Officer Peter Hancock struggles to sustain profitability. The net loss widened...
Federal Reserve Chair Yellen Defends Role in International Regulation
Feb 15 2017 // Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, in response to a warning from a U.S. congressman to halt global regulatory talks in the early stages of Donald Trump’s presidency, said in a letter the Fed has the authority and...
Insurer & Investor Group Urges G20 to Scrap Fossil Fuel Subsidies by 2020
Feb 15 2017 // Investors and insurers with more than $2.8 trillion in assets under management on Wednesday called on the Group of 20 economies to phase out fossil fuel subsidies by 2020 despite U.S. doubts about climate change. G20...
NSW Bushfires to Cost Insurers at Least US$15.3M: Insurance Council
Feb 14 2017 // The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has declared an insurance catastrophe for bushfires that have destroyed homes, stock and other assets across New South Wales, providing an initial insured loss estimate of at least...
Automakers Want Regulatory Road Cleared for Self-Driving Vehicles
Feb 14 2017 // General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. officials will tell a U.S. House panel on Tuesday that automakers need changes to automotive safety rules to allow the deployment of self-driving cars on American...
Ironshore Forms Oil & Gas Facility for Middle Market Energy Sector
Feb 14 2017 // Ironshore Specialty Casualty has formed Ironshore Energy Solutions, a dedicated oil & gas facility, offering liability coverages for on-shore middle market energy classes in the United States. Ironshore Insurance...
Palomar Specialty Launches Residential Flood Program in California
Feb 14 2017 // Palomar Specialty Insurance Co. has launched Flood Guard, a private flood program in California that uses an advanced and granular proprietary rating system. Palomar used catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide’s...
Obamacare Foe, Former Surgeon Price Sworn In as Health Secretary
Feb 13 2017 // Tom Price was sworn in as U.S. secretary of health on Friday, putting in place a determined opponent of Obamacare to help President Donald Trump dismantle his predecessor’s law and reshape the nation’s...
Markel Closed 2016 with Improved Investment Gains and Higher Cat Losses
Feb 10 2017 // Markel Corp. ended 2016 with a drop in net income and increase in the combined ratio, with Hurricane Matthew and the Canadian wildfires to blame for higher catastrophe losses. At the same time, the insurer experienced...
Undoing U.S. Financial Regulations Could Bar U.S. Firms from EU
Feb 10 2017 // Some U.S. financial institutions could be locked out of the European market if Donald Trump’s administration repeals global rules imposed in the wake of the financial crisis, a top EU official said on Friday. Valdis...
