Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Drought Bill May Get Washington to Act on Farm Bill
Jul 27 2012 // A comparatively low-priced disaster bill for livestock producers hit by the worst U.S. drought since 1956 may be the ticket to passage for a $500 billion farm bill now in limbo in Congress. Republican leaders in the House...
Conference: Risk, Returns, Regulation, and More Regulation
Jul 26 2012 // Coming off a rough few years of recession, then a disaster prone 2011 – and then more global uncertainty in 2012 – the world and the insurance industry have a few things to look forward to in the next year. They also...
Best Affirms Lloyd’s UK, China ‘A’ Ratings; Outlook Stable
Jul 26 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a+” of Lloyd’s and Lloyd’s Insurance...
Judge Seeks More Details on Dewey Law Firm’s Bonuses
Jul 26 2012 // A judge on Wednesday demanded more detail on a plan by Dewey & LeBoeuf to pay out as much as $450,000 in performance-based bonuses to employees helping to wind down the bankrupt law firm’s operations. Judge...
Former Citigroup Chief Weill Surprises with Call for Break-Up of Big Banks
Jul 26 2012 // Sanford “Sandy” Weill, the tycoon who built financial conglomerate Citigroup Inc. into a massive U.S. commercial and investment bank, said it is time to split up the biggest banks so they can go back to growing...
Earnings Report: ACE Limited
Jul 25 2012 // Selected earnings highlights from Swiss based ACE Limited for the second quarter and the first half of 2012 are as follows: Q2 2012 Q2 2011 Gross premiums written ———— $5.653 bn $5.423 bn Net...
Oil Firms, Regulators Miss Major Accident Indicators: Gulf Spill Report
Jul 25 2012 // Transocean and BP, trade associations, and U.S. regulators largely judged the safety of offshore facilities by focusing on routine personal injury and fatality data such as dropped objects and trips and falls when they...
Hoeven’s Flood Bill Derailed in U.S. House
Jul 24 2012 // In what turned out to be very good news for taxpayers, the environment and anyone concerned about risk mitigation, the speeding legislative train that was Sen. John Hoeven’s S. 2039 was derailed in the U.S. House...
New York Licenses First Mutual Bond Insurer for U.S. Municipal Market
Jul 24 2012 // New York State’s Department of Financial Services announced this week that it has licensed Build America Mutual Assurance Company (BAM) to operate as the first mutual bond insurer serving the U.S. municipal market...
Catlin Appoints McMellin to Succeed Banas as U.S. CEO
Jul 24 2012 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group Limited announced that Andrew McMellin, currently the group’s deputy chief underwriting officer, will become CEO of Catlin US effective September first. He will remain a member of the...
Crop Insurance Helps Farmers Now More Than in 1988 Drought
Jul 24 2012 // U.S. crops are taking a beating in the worst drought since 1988 but most farmers are not sweating like they did 24 years ago when a drought hit as they were just starting to recover from a farm depression that brought down...
Fairfax’s Watsa Raises Stake in BlackBerry Maker RIM to Nearly 10%
Jul 24 2012 // Canadian investor Prem Watsa, dubbed the “Warren Buffett of the North,” has nearly doubled his company’s stake in embattled BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd (RIM) to just under 10 percent,...
Some Parts of Midwest Expecting Rain This Week
Jul 23 2012 // Rain will fall early this week in the northern U.S. Midwest, with from 1 to 2 inches expected across a broad parched swath of corn and soybean land roughly north of Interstate 80, an agricultural meteorologist predicted...
Iran Investment Bill Well-Intentioned, But Unconstitutional
Jul 23 2012 // In a May 7 speech during her visit to India, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the principal threat to the world is a nuclear-armed Iran because Iran is a state sponsor of terrorism. It is understandable that...
People – South Central
Jul 23 2012 // Don Whitaker, president and owner of Whitaker Insurance Associates Inc. in San Antonio, has been named president-elect of the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas (IIAT) for 2012-201. The association elected Pat Arthur,...
Policy Counts for Property Insurers of Last Resort Up 17%
Jul 23 2012 // A record-high 3.31 million residential and commercial policies were offered through state-run property insurers of last resort in the United States in 2011, a 17 percent rise over the previous record of 2.84 million in...
Aon: June’s Severe Weather Losses Near $2B in U.S.
Jul 23 2012 // Severe weather insurance losses in the United States were close to $2 billion in June, according to Aon Benfield’s Global Catastrophe Report. The report, published by Aon’s Impact Forecasting, noted that the...
People – Southeast
Jul 23 2012 // Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. has appointed Joe Kinsey to the position of high net worth personal insurance executive for the eastern zone. In his new role, Kinsey has full underwriting and distribution responsibility...
People – East
Jul 23 2012 // Pawtucket, R.I.-based Narragansett Bay Insurance Company recently named Todd Hart as the new chief executive officer. Narragansett Bay founder Nick Steffey, who has stepped down from the CEO role, will continue as...
U.K.-Based Insurer Amlin Sets Up Reinsurance Unit in New Jersey
Jul 20 2012 // UK-based specialist insurer Amlin plc is setting up a U.S. market for casualty reinsurance targeting nationwide business with a focus on general and professional liability. The business will be sourced direct from U.S....
