Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ratings Recap: Kuwait Re, Optimum, Montana Re (cat bonds)
Jul 18 2011 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has revised the outlook to negative from stable and affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and the issuer credit rating of “a-” of...
Judge Tosses Racketeering Claims vs. BP Over Oil Spill
Jul 18 2011 // BP Plc won two legal victories Friday, as a federal judge threw out racketeering claims made by the lead plaintiffs suing over last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill, and also set aside a lawsuit by partner Anadarko...
S&P Threatens Downgrade of Insurers, Financial Firms Over Debt Ceiling
Jul 18 2011 // Standard & Poor’s Friday raised the pressure on debt negotiators in Washington, saying it could downgrade insurers, securities clearinghouses, mortgage agencies and a laundry list of other firms without a deal...
U.S. Wary of Possible Cuba Oil Spill
Jul 18 2011 // With Cuba preparing to explore for oil 60 miles from Florida, the complicated politics of U.S.-Cuba relations are impeding U.S. efforts to get ready in case of a BP-style accident, analysts and oil experts said. The Obama...
U.S. AG: Gulf Claims Fund Too Slow
Jul 18 2011 // The fund oil firm BP set up to deal with compensation claims after last year’s Gulf of Mexico oil spill is working too slowly, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said recently. The fund is not sufficiently transparent...
U.S. Wary of Possible Cuba Oil Spill
Jul 18 2011 // With Cuba preparing to explore for oil 60 miles from Florida, the complicated politics of U.S.-Cuba relations are impeding U.S. efforts to get ready in case of a BP-style accident, analysts and oil experts said. The Obama...
U.S., Mexico Agree to Cross-Border Trucking Program
Jul 18 2011 // Agreements resolving the dispute over long-haul, cross-border trucking services between the United States and Mexico have been signed, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Mexico will lift retaliatory...
London’s Calling
Jul 18 2011 // Lloyd’s America President Hank Watkins Campaigns for Broader Appeal Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd’s America Inc., smiles like he has a big secret he wants to spill. The history of Lloyd’s of London is...
Floods and Flood Insurance
Jul 18 2011 // While South Central states suffer from drought, the Midwest is paddling upstream against too much water and the flooding has once again put the spotlight on the National Flood Insurance Program with all its faults and...
$750M Settlement Reached with U.S. Farmers over Genetically Modified Rice
Jul 18 2011 // A settlement of up to $750 million has been reached with the German conglomerate Bayer CropScience on behalf of U.S. rice farmers in a series of rice contamination lawsuits, according to Don Downing, an attorney with Gray,...
Floods and Flood Insurance
Jul 18 2011 // While South Central states suffer from drought, the Midwest is paddling upstream against too much water and the flooding has once again put the spotlight on the National Flood Insurance Program with all its faults and...
IASB Rules ‘On the Way’ to Becoming Global Accounting Standard
Jul 15 2011 // A top accounting rules setter said on Thursday it was well on the way to becoming the global standard in a veiled hint that the United States should get on board or risk being isolated. In roughly a decade, adoption of the...
Guernsey Removed from U.S. “Blacklist”
Jul 15 2011 // The island of Guernsey’s Chief Minister, Lyndon Trott, met with officials in Washington this week as part of a series of discussions that have been conducted for a number of years. The dialogue between U.S. officials...
AXIS Puts Q2 Cat Losses at $90-$105 Million; Updates Q1 Estimates
Jul 15 2011 // Bermuda-based AXIS Capital Holdings Limited has estimated that the total net financial impact of the June 2011 aftershock in New Zealand and the series of severe weather events that occurred in the U.S. in April and May...
Which U.S. Metro Areas Are Most Able to Withstand a Disaster?
Jul 15 2011 // Which U.S. metro region is most likely to come out of the next economic recession, natural disaster or other regional “shock” relatively unscathed? According to new research at the University at Buffalo,...
Marsh Names Barber to New Role in U.S. Property Practice
Jul 14 2011 // Insurance broker Marsh has named Ryan A. Barber to the newly created role of head of Industry Specialization within its U.S. Property Practice. Barber will be responsible for industry-based risk advisory and insurance...
Willis’ ILS Report Sees Increased Investor Interest in Cat Bonds
Jul 14 2011 // A new report from Willis ILS – Investors Eager for Cat Bonds Following Light Second Quarter Issuance – concludes that, despite, or perhaps due to the catastrophes experienced during the first quarter of 2011,...
Murdoch’s Bow to Pressure; Will Attend UK Parliament’s Investigation
Jul 14 2011 // Rupert Murdoch on Thursday caved in to pressure from Britain’s parliament to answer questions over alleged crimes at one of his newspapers, setting up a showdown with lawmakers keen to break the media mogul’s...
Employment Class Actions Survive Despite Wal-Mart Ruling
Jul 13 2011 // The end of the road for a class-action discrimination lawsuit brought by female employees of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has not spelled doom for employment lawsuits facing other big U.S. companies. A landmark U.S. Supreme Court...
Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Confirms New London, U.S. Execs
Jul 12 2011 // Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has confirmed new CEOs from within its existing management team for two of its most important regions. As of October first, Carsten Scheffel, currently CEO of AGCS for the...
