Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
IAG Estimates Queensland Storm Claims at $38 to $44 Million
Nov 24 2008 // The Insurance Australia Group Limited (IAG) announced that it has received around 6,000 claims as a result of the storms that hit southeast Queensland (See IJ web site –...
Successive Hurricanes: Potential Windfall for Insureds?
Nov 24 2008 // The 2008 hurricane season came very close to presenting, on a large scale, the potential quandary caused by successive losses. On Sept.1, 2008, Hurricane Gustav came ashore and caused substantial damage from the Louisiana...
AEGON’s Bid for TARP Cash Doomed
Nov 21 2008 // A Dutch insurer’s experimental bid to tap the U.S. government for bailout cash looks doomed to failure, closing off an avenue for other insurers. Aegon NV said this week it was mulling buying a small U.S. bank to...
Bush Briefed, U.S. Consulting Allies on Somali Pirate Menace
Nov 21 2008 // President George W. Bush has been briefed about increasing attacks by Somali pirates off east Africa, and the United States is consulting with other U.N. Security Council members on ways to combat the threat, the White...
Ex-Pennsylvania Judge Found Guilty of Insurance Fraud
Nov 21 2008 // A retired Pennsylvania appellate judge was convicted of mail fraud and money laundering after prosecutors said he lied about neck and back injuries in a fender bender to collect $440,000 from two insurance...
ICC Study Finds ‘Lowest Global Economic Index in 10 Years’
Nov 20 2008 // A bulletin from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the Ifo Institute for Economic Research, has determined that the “world economic climate index has dropped for the fifth consecutive quarter in a row,...
Des Moines-Based Principal Financial Seeks $2 Billion From U.S. Treasury
Nov 20 2008 // Des Moines-based Principal Financial Group has applied to the U.S. Treasury for $2 billion from a capital purchase program. The retirement, insurance and financial services company says it would issue preferred shares and...
Lloyd’s and Rand Issue New Report on ‘Transatlantic Litigation Trends’
Nov 19 2008 // Lloyd’s and RAND have issued a new report on transatlantic litigation trends. The spread of what Lloyd’s Chairman Lord Peter Levene has called the “compensation culture,” is becoming an increasing...
AEGON May Buy U.S. Thrift
Nov 19 2008 // AEGON, the owner of Transamerica Corp., has confirmed that it is currently examining the possibility of acquiring a thrift in the United States. This would potentially allow the company to qualify for the U.S....
Obama Vows Climate Action Despite Financial Crisis
Nov 19 2008 // Barack Obama said Tuesday that the United States would “engage vigorously” in climate change talks when he is president, and he pledged to work to reduce emissions sharply by 2020, despite the financial...
U.S. Alters Strategy with China on Product Safety; Opens China Offices
Nov 19 2008 // The United States said this week that it has embarked on a new strategy with China to ensure that products imported into the U.S. are safe. Worries about the quality of Chinese exports to the U.S. have become a major...
Lloyd’s Expects U.S. To Adopt Federal Regulation of Insurance
Nov 19 2008 // Pushed by the global economic crisis, the United States is expected to embrace federal regulation of the insurance industry as early as 2009, according to some financial and insurance executives. Federal regulation in the...
Insurers Urged to Check Business Process Patents After Bilski Ruling
Nov 18 2008 // A recent federal court ruling could jeopardize the way some insurance, banking and high technology companies protect their business methods through patents. The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit...
Somali Pirates Hijack Saudi Supertanker off East Africa
Nov 18 2008 // Somali pirates have captured a fully laden Saudi supertanker far off east Africa, seizing the biggest vessel ever hijacked with a cargo of oil worth over $100 million in an attack that pushed world crude prices higher. The...
Survey: Women Business Owners Optimistic on 2009 Despite Liability Risk
Nov 17 2008 // Nearly three in five (58 percent) women business owners anticipate that their organizations’ revenues will grow in 2009, and nearly one-half (44 percent) do not expect difficulty in obtaining access to credit,...
EU, U.S. Warn China on Toy Safety Before Christmas
Nov 17 2008 // The consumer chiefs of the European Union and the United States called on China on Monday to crack down on unsafe products, especially toys, ahead of Christmas. More than 20 million Chinese-made toys were recalled...
Scorecard: Small Business at the Supreme Court
Nov 16 2008 // There is no question that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decisions impact small business. In fact, studies have shown that more than 40 percent of the court’s cases deal with issues that directly affect the business...
It Figures
Nov 16 2008 // $11.5 Billion The amount U.S. property/casualty insurers are expected to pay homeowners and businesses for third-quarter property losses resulting from a total of 11 catastrophes in 22 states, according to preliminary...
Successive Hurricanes: Potential Windfall for Insureds?
Nov 16 2008 // The 2008 hurricane season came very close to presenting, on a large scale, the potential quandary caused by successive losses. On Sept.1, 2008, Hurricane Gustav came ashore and caused substantial damage from the Louisiana...
People
Nov 16 2008 // The Texas Surplus Lines Association Inc. elected new officers and directors at its 52nd annual meeting held Nov. 3, 2008, at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin. The new officers are: President Paul Rainey, president of RSI...
