Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New York Man Gets 15 Years for No-Fault Insurance, Stock Fraud Scheme
Feb 1 2016 // A Long Island, New York, man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for a $35 million fraud that a judge said wrecked investors’ lives. Mikhail Zemlyansky, 39, was led out of a Manhattan courtroom Thursday, Jan. 28, in...
3 Female Chauffeurs Awarded $130K Each in Minnesota Discrimination Case
Jan 31 2016 // A federal judge has awarded damages to three Minnesota women who sued after they were dismissed from their chauffeur jobs because a Saudi prince wanted only male drivers. U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen awarded $130,000...
Officials, Poultry Producers Hope Nationwide Testing Contains Indiana Bird Flu
Jan 29 2016 // In the two weeks since bird flu reappeared in Indiana, U.S. veterinarians have swabbed the mouths of chickens and turkeys across the country, racing to uncover any more infections and contain the virus before it causes...
U.S. Utilities Examine Their Insurance Protection After Ukraine Grid Cyber Attack
Jan 29 2016 // U.S. utilities are looking hard at their cyber vulnerabilities and whether they can get insurance to cover what could be a multi-billion dollar loss after hackers cut electric power to more than 80,000 Ukrainians last...
Most Dangerous Cities in U.S. Ranked by Crime Data
Jan 28 2016 // East St. Louis, Illinois and Camden, New Jersey rank first and second in an annual ranking of the country’s most dangerous cities. New Orleans ((70), Philadelphia (65), Miami (63), Washington, D.C. (35) and Baltimore...
Record Western Wildfires a Contrast in Otherwise Quiet Year for U.S. Natural Disasters
Jan 28 2016 // It was a relatively quiet year for natural disasters – except for those living in the Western U.S. Property data provider CoreLogic today released its annual Natural Hazard Risk Summary and Analysis. The report shows...
Gasoline Imports Easier to Insure than Crude Exports in Post-Sanctions Iran
Jan 28 2016 // Major oil firms and trade houses are gradually resuming energy trading with Iran but efforts remain very cautious and often face huge legal obstacles, meaning a post-sanctions return to full-scale activity will take weeks...
Takata Discloses 11th Death Linked to Air Bag; Announces New 5 Million Vehicle Recall
Jan 27 2016 // U.S. auto safety regulators said Tuesday that air bag maker Takata Corp. declared 5.1 million U.S. vehicles defective, as the company disclosed an 11th death could be linked to a faulty airbag. Most of the vehicles...
‘Old’ ACE, Chubb Report Q4, Full Year 2015 Results
Jan 27 2016 // Just shy of two weeks after closing on their merger, ACE Ltd. and Chubb Corp. released financial results for their last quarter and year as separate entities. On January 14, 2016, ACE closed on its acquisition of Chubb...
Insurer Comings-and-Goings Show U.S. Crop Insurance a Field for Specialists
Jan 27 2016 // The U.S. crop insurance market has been abandoned by some of its largest companies as lower agricultural prices crimp revenue, and uncertainty about federal aid clouds the business’s future. Cargill Inc., the largest...
Franchises Ask Supreme Court to Hear Seattle Minimum Wage
Jan 27 2016 // A business group said on Monday it is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to hear its appeal of a lower-court ruling tossing out its challenge of part of Seattle’s law to increase the minimum wage. The International...
Firms Look at New Tools Designed to Foil Hackers as Firewalls Prove Inadequate
Jan 27 2016 // With firewalls no longer seen as enough of a defense against security breaches, companies are looking at new tools to foil hackers trying to enter a computer network. U.S. and Israeli startups are leading the way, with new...
Insurance Placement Difficulties Delay Iranian Crude Exports to Europe
Jan 27 2016 // Efforts by Iran to start exporting oil to Europe are being held up as foreign tanker owners are still struggling to secure insurance for cargoes, leading shipping players said on Tuesday. A nuclear deal between world...
Texas Stamping Office: Growth in U.S. Surplus Lines Continued in 2015
Jan 25 2016 // Collectively, the surplus lines insurance service/stamping offices across the country processed a record-breaking $25 billion in premium in 2015, exhibiting 3.6 percent growth over the $24.2 billion in premium processed...
California Gas Leak Follows Years of Lax Regulation of Aging Storage Wells
Jan 25 2016 // Long before a natural gas storage well sprung a disastrous leak near Los Angeles, Calif., utilities and national industry groups were raising alarms about the danger of aging underground storage infrastructure. The leaking...
Vullo Nomination Signals Shift at N.Y. Dept. of Financial Services
Jan 25 2016 // New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signaled a shift in New York’s oversight of Wall Street, tapping a longtime corporate lawyer to run the state banking regulator previously overseen by an aggressive career law...
Gene Creating Antibiotic-Resistant Superbug Detected in at Least 19 Countries
Jan 25 2016 // Just two months ago, researchers in China identified a gene that can make bacteria resistant to a last-resort antibiotic called colistin. It was a bombshell discovery for people who follow superbugs. Now that gene has been...
Global Insurers Explore Opportunities in Iran; Market Worth Premiums of $7.4B
Jan 25 2016 // Global insurance firms are circling Iran for business opportunities following the lifting of sanctions – and the first test of their appetite could come in March when some Iranian companies seek new cover. Insurers,...
People – South Central
Jan 25 2016 // Dallas-based risk management consulting and insurance agency, Dexter & Company, has promoted Royce DeRouen and David Rambie to executive roles. In his new role as senior vice president, DeRouen oversees the Risk...
Second ‘Hottest’ Year on Record in U.S. Included 10 Major Weather Events in 2015
Jan 25 2016 // Last year was the second hottest on record in the contiguous United States, and included 10 major weather and climate events, such as droughts and storms, that each led to over $1 billion in damages, the National Oceanic...