Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Viewpoint: U.S. Can Learn from Florida Climate Change Response
May 27 2014 // Adapting to climate change is such a daunting task that it can be hard to know where, or how, to begin. Here’s one answer: in southeastern Florida, with yellow foam earplugs. The plugs are needed to keep out the din...
Ratings Recap: Dominion, Ardellis, NAGICO, JRG Re
May 27 2014 // A.M. Best has assigned a financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating (ICR) of “a” to The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, based in Toronto, Ontario,...
GM Now Links 47 Crashes to Ignition Failure
May 27 2014 // General Motors Co. has now linked 47 crashes to small cars with defective ignition switches while saying it hasn’t increased the number of deaths tied to the accidents. “We have done a thorough analysis of all...
Australia’s Suncorp Plans $462 Million Write-down, Cuts Growth Target
May 27 2014 // Suncorp Group Ltd., Australia’s largest general insurer by market value, plans a A$500 million (US$462 million) write-down at its life insurance unit and cut its growth target for the year to June 2015. The...
ACE Expands Travel Coverage for Religious, Educational Institutions
May 23 2014 // ACE Group has expanded its web-based portal to provide coverage for U.S.-based religious organizations and educational institutions, whose employees, students and volunteers travel internationally. The portal,...
North Carolina Senate Votes to Make Disclosure of Fracking Chemicals Illegal
May 23 2014 // The North Carolina Senate on Thursday voted to make it a crime to disclose the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, even as big U.S. oil companies elsewhere consider releasing more information about the...
‘Old GM’ Customer Loses Appeal Over Bankruptcy
May 23 2014 // A bankruptcy judge’s decision that a General Motors Co. customer failed to state a valid claim against the estate of so-called Old GM was upheld by a federal judge in Manhattan. Such rulings don’t get...
Report Faults U.S. Oversight of Chemical Plants
May 23 2014 // The government has no way of fully knowing which U.S. chemical facilities stock ammonium nitrate, the substance that exploded last year at a Texas fertilizer plant and killed 14 people, congressional investigators say....
Lloyd’s U.S. Chief on Board with Climate Change
May 22 2014 // Despite risking offense to non-believers, Hank Watkins didn’t hesitate when he was asked if climate change was upon us. Watkins, president of Lloyd’s America, talked about an extensive report Lloyd’s of...
Dodd-Frank, Flood Insurance Foe Hensarling Faces Test on TRIA Renewal
May 22 2014 // When Jeb Hensarling took over the congressional panel that spawned the Dodd-Frank Act, he vowed to roll back the landmark Wall Street law and eliminate government programs that backstop private markets. More than a year...
Protecting Brand Names from Cyber Threats – a Growth Sector
May 22 2014 // Cyber security and cyber threats are growing, both in numbers and in costs. They will certainly continue to increase as they follow the increases in Internet use and the rapid changes in how electronic information is...
House Chairman Vows to Have Bipartisan TRIA Renewal Bill Ready Next Month
May 22 2014 // The chairman of crucial U.S. House subcommittee said a bipartisan bill of its own that will renew the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act, or TRIA, will be unveiled in June. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Texas, disclosed as much on...
BP to Appeal Oil Spill Claims Settlement to Supreme Court
May 22 2014 // BP Plc, seeking to avoid paying what it says would be billions of dollars in unjustified claims, will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review a court order on a settlement tied to its 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. “No...
Appeals Court Won’t Rehear BP Gulf Settlement Issue
May 21 2014 // A federal appeals court has refused to reconsider its previous ruling that businesses don’t have to prove they were directly harmed by BP’s 2010 Gulf Of Mexico oil spill to collect settlement payments. The...
Former Insurance Agents Johnson, Kingston Fare Well in Georgia Primary
May 21 2014 // A former insurance agent who has been active in Democratic Party politics has won her party’s primary for the Georgia insurance commissioner post and will face off against the incumbent Republican in the November...
New York AG Says AIG’s Lawsuit Is Bid to Hobble Unlicensed Sales Probe
May 21 2014 // New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman asked a judge to dismiss American International Group Inc.’s lawsuit against the state’s top financial regulator, saying the insurer is trying to interfere with a...
Chinese Hacking Raises Cyber Attack Disclosure Issue for Companies
May 21 2014 // Three U.S. public companies identified as Chinese hacking victims didn’t report the theft of trade secrets and other data to investors, despite rules designed to disclose significant events. Two of the companies...
Insurers Balk at High Cost of Specialty Drug
May 21 2014 // The leading U.S. health insurance trade group on Tuesday hit out at the extremely high cost of new specialty medicines, accusing drugmakers of taking advantage of the insurance system by pricing products at unsustainable...
Court Rejects BP Bid to Limit Oil Spill Claims
May 20 2014 // BP Plc faces billions of dollars in additional payments after failing to convince an appeals court that the company is being forced to pay claims that aren’t directly related to the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. A...
Bank of America Off Hook for Allegedly Hiding AIG Lawsuit: Court
May 19 2014 // A federal appeals court said Bank of America Corp. was not liable to shareholders for allegedly concealing a $10 billion fraud lawsuit by American International Group Inc., whose filing led to a 20-percent one-day plunge...
