Latest USA Headlines

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

Protx Risk Management Launches Bancshield+ Portfolio for Community Banks

Dec 12 2013 // Protx Risk Management LLC, a managing general agency that focuses on professional liability insurance, has introduced a suite of professional liability products for U.S. community banks, including directors and officers...

IICF Northeast Division Awards 16 New Grants Totaling $879,000

Dec 12 2013 // The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Northeast division announced 16 charitable grants at its seventh annual benefit dinner on Wednesday. The total amount of the grants is $879,000. Lisa Tepper, chair of the...

Drilling Boom Leaves Some Neighbors with Damages, Depressed House Values

Dec 12 2013 // When Gary Gless bought his sleek, modernist house in Los Angeles in 2002, he thought he had hit a “gold mine.” The world’s largest inner-city park – featuring a lush, 18-hole golf course – was...

Bond Managers Gain as Pension Funds Flock to Catastrophe Risk

Dec 12 2013 // Funds specializing in insurance-linked risks such as catastrophe bonds are benefiting as the $30 trillion pension industry increases bets in a market that hasn’t posted an annual loss. At Leadenhall Capital Partners...

Obamacare November Enrollment Tops 250,000; Sebelius Seeks Probe of Botched Launch

Dec 11 2013 // More than 250,000 Americans selected private health insurance plans through Obamacare enrollment systems last month, better than twice as many as in October when the exchanges opened amid technology errors and...

Chinese Hackers Spied on Europeans before G20 Meeting: Research Firm

Dec 11 2013 // Chinese hackers eavesdropped on the computers of five European foreign ministries before last September’s G20 Summit, which was dominated by the Syrian crisis, according to research by computer security firm FireEye...

Indiana Steelworkers Await High Court Ruling on Pay for Donning Protective Gear

Dec 10 2013 // A group of Indiana steelworkers is awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court decision on when the clock starts on their shifts at U.S. Steel Gary Works. The nation’s highest court recently heard arguments in a case filed by...

Commercial Lines Price Gains Slowing Down: Towers Watson

Dec 10 2013 // Even though commercial insurance prices increased for the 11th straight quarter—rising by 5 percent in aggregate during third-quarter 2013—price gains are slowing down, according to Towers Watson. According to The...

Rescheduled Asiana Crash Hearing to Probe Pilot Reliance on Automation

Dec 10 2013 // A U.S. safety regulator’s hearing on the July 6 crash of an Asiana Airlines Inc. plane in San Francisco was postponed today due to the federal government’s weather-related closing. The day hearing will be...

TPP Trade Pact Misses Deadline as More Talks Planned for January

Dec 10 2013 // Ministers negotiating the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact said today they would miss a year-end deadline to complete the deal. “We identified potential landing zones for the majority of key outstanding...

Aspen US Insurance Opens Houston Office

Dec 9 2013 // Aspen US Insurance (Aspen) announced it has opened a new office in Houston to capitalize on the shale energy boom and evolving regional environmental exposures. As part of Aspen’s national expansion in the U.S., the...

Judge Blocks BP Investors from Suing as Group Over Losses

Dec 9 2013 // BP Plc’s U.S. investors can’t pursue as a group claims that the company inflated its shares with misleading statements before and after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, a judge ruled, citing a recent Supreme Court...

Allstate Picks ING to Sell Fixed Annuities to Its Home, Auto Customers

Dec 9 2013 // ING U.S. Inc. will begin selling fixed annuities through Allstate Corp. agencies as the largest publicly traded U.S. auto and home insurer ceases to offer its own brand of the retirement products. The deal gives ING U.S....

Glass-Steagall Firewall Could Return If Volcker Rule Disappoints

Dec 9 2013 // Five U.S. agencies will finish the Volcker rule tomorrow after more than three years of Wall Street resistance to its limits on trading and investing. Lawmakers and their allies who want to rein in big banks are ready to...

WTO Overcomes Last Minute Hitch to Reach First Global Trade Deal

Dec 9 2013 // The World Trade Organization reached its first ever trade reform deal on Saturday to the roar of approval from nearly 160 ministers who had gathered on the Indonesian island of Bali to decide on the make-or-break agreement...

QBE Shares Drop Most in 12 Years on Unexpected U.S. Loss Forecast

Dec 9 2013 // QBE Insurance Group Ltd., Australia’s second-largest insurer by market value, plunged the most in 12 years after forecasting an unexpected loss due to write-downs at its North American operations. The company...

Los Angeles Sues Citi, Wells Fargo Over Discriminatory Lending

Dec 6 2013 // The city of Los Angeles has filed a lawsuit against Citigroup and Wells Fargo, seeking damages for a loss in tax revenue due to discriminatory mortgage lending to the city’s minority communities, a court filing...

Washington Navy Yard Shooting Victim’s Family Files Suit in Florida

Dec 6 2013 // The family of a woman slain during the mass shooting at the Washington Navy Yard is the first to file a lawsuit against the U.S. government and defense contractors over the slaughter that left 12 dead, alleging that...

Obama Product Safety Chief Tenenbaum Returns to South Carolina

Dec 6 2013 // After four years in Washington as the nation’s products safety czar, Inez Tenenbaum is coming home to the Columbia area, her life changed in ways large and small. “Now I’m always giving advice unsolicited...

U.S. Insurance Broker Sector Outlook Positive for 2014: Fitch

Dec 6 2013 // Revenue and earnings growth for U.S. insurance brokers in 2014 is expected to improve modestly over 2013, according to a report by Fitch Ratings. Fitch issued a stable rating outlook and positive sector outlook for the...