Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
IAG Profit More Than Triples as Natural Disaster Claims Fall
Aug 22 2013 // Insurance Australia Group Ltd., the nation’s biggest car and home insurer, reported full-year net income more than triple a year earlier as claims fell and premiums rose. Net income rose to A$776 million ($697...
Red River Diversion Opponents Sue Army Corps
Aug 21 2013 // Opponents of a planned project to divert the Red River around Fargo, N.D., and Moorhead, Minn., have sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in federal court. The lawsuit filed by opponents south of the metro area accuses...
A Roundup of Maryland’s New Insurance Laws From 2013 Legislative Session
Aug 21 2013 // The Maryland Insurance Administration issued a bulletin this week summarizing new insurance legislation from the Maryland General Assembly’s 2013 session that have been signed into law by Gov. Martin O’Malley....
Suncorp Group Net Income Falls 32% on Banking Unit Loss
Aug 21 2013 // Suncorp Group Ltd., an Australian lender and insurer, posted a 32 percent decline in full-year profit in line with its guidance last month. Net income for the year to June 30 was A$491 million (US$443 million) compared...
Safety Probes at Risk Without More Funding: NTSB
Aug 20 2013 // The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, handling the most accident investigations since the 1990s, is “going to have to let some things go” if budget cuts aren’t restored, Chairman Deborah Hersman...
Government Wins Bid to Apply FIRREA Fraud Law in Banks’ Mortgage Cases
Aug 20 2013 // A federal judge has endorsed a broad interpretation of a savings-and-loan era law that the U.S. Justice Department is trying to use in cases against Wall Street banks. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said...
Cat Bonds Rally with Hurricane Season Advancing: Credit Market Recap
Aug 20 2013 // Gains on catastrophe bonds are poised to exceed returns on speculative-grade company debt by the most since 2008 as the Atlantic hurricane season heads into its fourth month. Notes designed to protect insurers from payouts...
QBE Net Income Falls 37% on Claims, Lower U.S. Premiums
Aug 20 2013 // QBE Insurance Group Ltd., Australia’s largest insurer by market value, posted a 37 percent fall in first-half net income as premiums fell in North America and it set aside more for unresolved claims. Net income...
U.S. Presses Japan to Open Insurance, Auto Markets
Aug 19 2013 // The United States urged Japan on Monday to open its auto and insurance markets more to foreign companies as the two countries pursue bilateral talks linked to a broader free-trade agreement that covers two-fifths of the...
Information Technology and Risk Complexity
Aug 19 2013 // In today’s legal environment, nearly every company faces some kind of litigation risk. With the growing ubiquity of technology in not just the corporate market, but the consumer marketplace as well, the risk for...
U.S. Asks Court to Block Bernanke Testimony in Greenberg’s AIG Lawsuit
Aug 18 2013 // The U.S. Justice Department on Friday asked an appeals court to reverse a judge’s ruling last month that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke must testify in a lawsuit about American International Group Inc.’s...
Former Louisiana Deputy Insurance Commissioner Sentenced
Aug 16 2013 // A former deputy commissioner at the Louisiana Department of Insurance has received a prison sentence for racketeering, according to Justice Department officials. Acting United States Attorney J. Walter Green in the U.S....
Ratings Recap: Electrical Contractors, Al-Sagr, Alliance (UAE)
Aug 16 2013 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a-” of UK-based Electrical Contractors’ Insurance...
Quebec Demands CP Railway Help Pay for Disaster Clean-up
Aug 16 2013 // The Canadian province of Quebec has ordered Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd to help pay clean-up costs after a train disaster that killed 47 people and said on Thursday the company has no choice in the matter. The disaster,...
BP Asks Judge to Deny Investors’ Class-Action Spill Suit Bid
Aug 15 2013 // BP Plc asked a federal judge to deny U.S. investors the right to pursue a class action, or group, lawsuit claiming the company misled them before and after the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill. The investors, led by the New...
Evacuations Start at Some U.S. Gulf Offshore Operations on Storm Threat
Aug 15 2013 // Some Gulf of Mexico oil and gas operators began evacuating workers from offshore facilities on Thursday as a low-pressure system threatened to strengthen into a cyclone. The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Thursday...
Global Economic Outlook Dims as U.S. Recovery Continues: ICC-Ifo Survey
Aug 15 2013 // According to a World Economic Survey (WES) carried out by the Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Munich-based economic research institute Ifo, “the world economy has weakened slightly this...
Insurers, Government Grapple with Costs of Growth in Wildland-Urban Interface
Aug 15 2013 // The summer of 2013 has been another severe fire season for the United States, a trend that has insurance companies bracing for a new normal: higher rates of property damage as Americans move to wildfire-prone areas in ever...
Applied Systems Acquires Insurecom in U.K.
Aug 14 2013 // University Park, Ill.-based insurance software provider Applied Systems Inc. has acquired Insurecom, a software and connectivity solutions company focused on the insurance industry in the United Kingdom. Under the deal...
Human Activity Muddies Causes of Texas Floods
Aug 14 2013 // Periodic flooding in Texas — one the most flood-prone states in the nation — cannot be firmly linked to climate change due to numerous dams and other man-made structures introduced over the years, according to a...