Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Supreme Court to Hear Comcast, Amgen Cases on Class Action Limits
Nov 6 2012 // The U.S. Supreme Court considered appeals by Comcast Corp. and Amgen Inc. that could help determine what kind of evidence must be presented before companies may be the subject of class-action lawsuits. Monday’s...
State Elections to Decide Insurance Commissioner, Ballot Initiatives, Court Contests
Nov 5 2012 // For the insurance industry, there is more at stake in the Nov. 6 election than who goes to or stays in the White House and Congress. The insurance industry will be watching who wins the gubernatorial races in 11 states,...
Power, Transit Outages Could Make Sandy 2nd-Costliest Storm in U.S.
Nov 5 2012 // Widespread power outages and subway shutdowns may wind up making Superstorm Sandy the second most expensive storm in U.S. history. That would rank it right behind Hurricane Katrina. Eqecat said last week that the damage...
Va. Court: Chinese Drywall Damage Excluded From Homeowners Policy
Nov 5 2012 // The Virginia Supreme Court ruled last week that home damages that were allegedly caused by Chinese drywall are excluded from TravCo Insurance Co.’s “all risk” homeowners insurance policy. TravCo Insurance...
U.S. ‘Fiscal Cliff,’ Europe’s Debt Woes Worry G20
Nov 5 2012 // Leading world economies pressed the United States on Sunday to act decisively to avert a rush of spending cuts and tax hikes, warning that the so-called fiscal cliff is the biggest short-term threat to global...
Corn Crop Insurance Payout up to $7.50 Per Bushel
Nov 5 2012 // Corn farmers who chose to pay more to insure their crops at harvest prices have gotten some welcome news from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Farmers who bought the more expensive crop insurance option last spring will...
Chubb’s Q3 Profit Jumps 79%
Nov 5 2012 // The Chubb Corp. reported $533 million net profit for its third quarter, up 78.8 percent from $298 million reported during the same period one year ago. The quarterly results, released on Oct. 25, got a boost from...
Business Moves – East
Nov 5 2012 // OneBeacon, Markel Corp. Bermuda-domiciled OneBeacon Insurance Group Ltd. is selling its Essentia Insurance Co. unit to Glen Allen, Va.-headquartered Markel Corp. Essentia focuses on the collector car and boat business that...
Declarations – Southeast
Nov 5 2012 // Gone Fishing “We might not get off here until Tuesday or Wednesday, which doesn’t hurt my feelings that much because the fishing’s going to be really good after this storm. It’s always good after a...
Surplus Lines: Regulators Vetting of Alien Nonadmitted Insurers
Nov 5 2012 // The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) acts as the trade association for state insurance commissioners. The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 (NRRA) delegated to the NAIC responsibility for...
Businesses Call for Controls on Litigation Funding Firms
Nov 5 2012 // A business lobby group wants the U.S. Congress to regulate companies that provide financing for commercial lawsuits, describing the practice as “coercive enterprise.” The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for...
Trends
Nov 5 2012 // It’s interesting to see what’s on people’s minds as potential catastrophes develop. Google’s top search on Oct. 29 as Hurricane Sandy approached the East Coast were for the “Weather...
Will Regulatory Reform Trigger Doomsday for Captives?
Nov 5 2012 // If you’re startled by this headline, you’re not alone. Until recently, the words “reform” and “captive” were rarely used in the same sentence. That’s because captive insurance...
Report: FDA Needs New Authority Over Compounding Pharmacies
Nov 5 2012 // The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s power to regulate compounded drugs similar to those linked to a deadly meningitis outbreak is legally nonbinding and lacks the authority of stringent standards imposed on drug...
‘Big One’ Looms in Minds of Experts Before California ShakeOut
Nov 5 2012 // A day before more than 9 million people in California took part in a massive nationwide earthquake drill in mid-October, U.S. Geological Survey seismologist Lucy Jones stood in a room full of risk professionals in the San...
9.4 M Drop, Cover And Hold On
Nov 5 2012 // More than 9.4 million Californians reportedly practiced the “Drop, Cover, and Hold On” drill in mid-October in preparation for a major earthquake. The 2012 Great California ShakeOut involved record numbers of...
Essentials: The Risk Landscape of Cyberspace
Nov 5 2012 // William Gibson coined the phrase “cyberspace” in his popular science fiction novel “Neuromancer” “to describe the real and cultural dynamics of people and machines working within the confines...
Trade Sanctions and Risk Management
Nov 5 2012 // Understanding Economic Sanctions and Regulation When Doing Business Abroad The U.S. government has increasingly used laws and regulations that impose economic sanctions on others as an instrument to advance foreign policy...
Superstorm Sandy Will Test Federal Flood Insurance Program
Nov 2 2012 // Superstorm Sandy is threatening to drag the U.S. government’s debt-ridden flood insurance program back into the political crosshairs just months after Congress attempted to put the controversial program on a sound...
Scope of Hurricane Sandy Widens, Death Toll Rises
Nov 2 2012 // From New York City’s Staten Island to the popular beach towns of the Jersey Shore, rescuers and officials on Friday faced growing evidence of widespread destruction wrought by superstorm Sandy, mounting anger over...
