Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
North Dakota Becomes 31st State to Ban Texting While Driving
Apr 28 2011 // North Dakota the 31st state to ban texting behind the wheel, according to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood who praised North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple for signing a new law banning the practice. The new law,...
Best Affirms AEGON USA Group’s Ratings
Apr 28 2011 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A+’ (Superior) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “aa-” of the life/health subsidiaries of Netherlands-based AEGON N.V.’s...
AIG Files Lawsuit Against Two Money Management Firms
Apr 28 2011 // American International Group sued two money management firms Thursday as the bailed-out insurer launched a fight to recoup billions of dollars it said it lost due to fraud. The insurer, 92 percent owned by the U.S....
U.S. Regulators Define Swaps, What Falls Under Dodd-Frank
Apr 27 2011 // U.S. futures and securities regulators unveiled a crucial part of their expanded supervision of the swaps market on Wednesday, by defining what products will be covered by last year’s financial oversight...
New Orleans Construction Product Supplier Settles in Chinese Drywall Suit
Apr 27 2011 // A settlement agreement has been reached with a New Orleans, La.-based supplier of tainted Chinese drywall in the multi-district litigation (MDL 2047) over the product. Interior/Exterior Building Supply L.P. and the...
Supreme Court Hears Securities Fraud Loss Causation Arguments
Apr 27 2011 // The U.S. Supreme Court considered Monday whether to make it more difficult for shareholders to proceed with certain class-action securities-fraud lawsuits against publicly traded companies. The hour-long arguments before...
Five Japan Life Insurers Eye Unhedged Foreign Bonds; See Weaker Yen
Apr 27 2011 // Five Japanese life insurers say they may buy more unhedged foreign bonds, believing that the yen is likely to weaken and that the currency risks are low enough for them not to take on higher hedging costs, a stance that...
SCOR to Buy Aegon’s Transamerica Reinsurance Unit for $913 Million
Apr 26 2011 // French reinsurer SCOR is set to pay $913 million for most of Dutch insurer Aegon’s Transamerica Reinsurance operations. When concluded, the combined companies would become the second largest life reinsurer in the...
SEC: Mid-Size Firms Should Follow Sarbanes Oxley Internal Control
Apr 25 2011 // Accountants at the U.S. securities regulator are recommending that medium-size public companies should not be exempted from a key auditing provision in the 2002 Sarbanes-Oxley Act, saying the benefits to investors outweigh...
High Stakes in Today’s Supreme Court Case on Securities Fraud Suits
Apr 25 2011 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday is set to hear arguments in a case that could dramatically raise the bar for shareholders seeking to file class-action lawsuits against public companies. The issue is especially timely,...
Military’s Medical Malpractice Shield Law Could Face Key Test
Apr 25 2011 // Veterans, military families and others who oppose a decades-old law that shields military medical personnel from malpractice lawsuits are rallying around a case they consider the best chance in a generation to change the...
Beazley Remains Confident, Despite Q1 Catastrophes
Apr 25 2011 // The first quarter of 2011 reminded the insurance industry of just how unpredictable natural catastrophes can be. Beazley plc, which is headquartered in Dublin, but whose main activities, are in the Lloyd’s market,...
Allianz Confirms Cat Bond Commitment with $40 Million U.S. Placement
Apr 25 2011 // Germany’s Allianz has reconfirmed its commitment to catastrophe bonds, as a useful and generally accepted method of transferring a certain amount of risk to the capital markets. It underlined that commitment with the...
WTO Faces Tough Choices after Latest Doha Round Setback
Apr 22 2011 // World Trade Organization members face a somber Easter Sunday because of a fight over manufacturing trade between the United States and major emerging economies like China, India and Brazil that could finally kill...
Lawsuits Fly in BP Gulf Oil Spill Blame Game
Apr 22 2011 // A barrage of court claims pitting BP Plc against its partners in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could lay the groundwork for billions of dollars in settlements to spread the costs of the disaster. BP has sued Transocean Ltd,...
Top 10 U.S. Excess/Surplus Insurers
Apr 22 2011 // Top 10 U.S. Excess, Surplus Insurers of 2010 by Market Share According to SNL Financial: American International Group Zurich Financial Services Ltd. Nationwide Mutual Group ACE Ltd. W.R. Berkley Corp. Markel Corp. CNA...
Cattle, Crops at Risk From North Dakota Floods, Snow
Apr 21 2011 // Snowstorms on top of flooding in North Dakota have not yet resulted in many cattle deaths as feared, but lingering cold, wet weather threatens the state’s herd, a U.S. Department of Agriculture official said. Spring...
BP Sues Rig Owner Transocean and Maker of Blowout Preventer
Apr 21 2011 // On the first anniversary of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP Plc sued Transocean , seeking at least $40 billion in damages and other costs from the owner of the Deepwater Horizon rig. London-based BP also sued Cameron...
How P/C Insurance Industry Fared Financially in 2010
Apr 20 2011 // U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes rose to $34.7 billion in 2010 from $28.7 billion the year before, with insurers’ rate of return on average policyholders’ surplus increasing to 6.5...
Treasury Defends Dodd-Frank Reforms; Promises Insurance Expert Soon
Apr 20 2011 // The Obama administration fired a fresh salvo at Wall Street Tuesday, telling critics of the U.S. financial reform law to knock off their attacks. “We will continue to oppose efforts to slow down, weaken, or repeal...
