Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Ark., La. Commissioners Reassure Policyholders After AIG Bailout
Sep 18 2008 // Both Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Julie Benafield Bowman and Louisiana Commissioner of Insurance Jim Donelon have issued statements seeking to reassure policyholders in the wake of the federal takeover of insurance...
S&P Says AIG Ratings “Developing;’ Short-Term Ratings Raised
Sep 18 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised the CreditWatch status of most of its ratings on the AIG group of companies to CreditWatch developing from CreditWatch negative. The revisions affect its...
Best Upgrades Hiscox Ratings to ‘A’
Sep 18 2008 // A.M. Best Co. has upgraded the financial strength ratings (FSR) to ‘A’ (Excellent) from ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICRs) to “a” from “a-” of Hiscox...
State Regulators: Insurer Groups Must ‘Stick to Facts’ on AIG
Sep 18 2008 // National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) President and Kansas Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger today issued the following statement regarding American International Group (AIG): In times of crisis, the...
AIG Will Sell Assets, But at What Price?
Sep 18 2008 // American International Group Inc. may not sell assets for as much as it would like, as it scrambles to meet terms of its U.S. government bailout. The giant insurer narrowly avoided bankruptcy late Tuesday after the U.S....
Japan Insurers, QBE Seen Eyeing AIG Assets; China Less Likely
Sep 17 2008 // Japan’s well-capitalized and acquisitive insurers and Australia’s top player are seen as potential buyers if reeling U.S. heavyweight AIG sells assets, analysts and fund managers said. However, China’s...
AIG Crisis Restarts Debate Over State vs. Federal Insurance Regulation
Sep 17 2008 // The crisis surrounding giant insurer American International Group has reignited the debate within insurance circles over whether state or federal regulation is preferable. The parent AIG got into trouble with credit...
U.S. Looks to Former Allstate CEO Liddy to Run AIG
Sep 17 2008 // The U.S. government is betting former Allstate chief Edward M. Liddy is the safest pair of hands to oversee the dismantling of American International Group Inc. and prevent further unraveling of the world’s stressed...
AIG Woes Offer Double Benefit for Insurance Rivals
Sep 17 2008 // Insurance rivals stand to reap the benefits from the woes of American International Group, snapping up assets AIG is forced to sell while gaining greater pricing power as AIG pulls in its claws. Zurich Financial Services...
Lloyd’s Sees NAIC’s Decision on Reinsurance Collateral ‘This Month’
Sep 16 2008 // A bulletin on the Lloyd’s web site (www.lloyds.com) notes that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has confirmed it will meet “to consider the proposal to end collateral requirements...
Update: AIG Cash Crisis Mounts; Greenberg Explores Buyout; Conservatorship Reportedly Eyed
Sep 16 2008 // American International Group Inc. shares sank 48 percent on a report that regulators might take control of the giant insurer, though a U.S. government source said federal agencies do not have legal authority to put AIG...
AIG Rescue at Hand: Government to Take 80% Stake in Exchange for $85 Billion
Sep 16 2008 // An $85 billion government rescue of insurer American International Group Inc. looked increasingly likely Tuesday to stave off a bankruptcy that would have thrown world markets back into turmoil. The Federal Reserve will...
Woman Who Started Wildfire Says It Was Symbolic
Sep 15 2008 // The former U.S. Forest Service employee who started the worst wildfire in Colorado’s recorded history testified she burned the letter blamed for igniting the blaze as a “symbolic gesture” of her failing...
Bermuda Association Explains Reinsurance Risk Spreading Role
Sep 15 2008 // “The global reinsurance market plays an integral role in spreading US hurricane risk around the world,” said a bulletin from the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR). “Without it, the...
Nearly 2,000 Brought to Safety in Texas
Sep 15 2008 // Rescuers searching the waterlogged streets and splintered houses left behind by Hurricane Ike in Galveston they had saved nearly 2,000 people – many of whom then boarded buses to shelters without knowing where they...
Hurricane Ike Idles Texas Oil Industry, Threatens Floods
Sep 12 2008 // Powerful Hurricane Ike bore down on the heart of the U.S. energy sector in Texas Friday, leaving most production idled and threatening a fifth of the nation’s refining capacity with howling winds and a possible...
U.S. Sees Insurance Clampdown on Iran Over Nuclear Program
Sep 11 2008 // The United States is discussing with allies how insurance firms can more rigidly apply sanctions on Iran to step up pressure over its disputed nuclear program, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Tuesday. Stuart Levey,...
U.S. Subprime Lawsuits Outpace S&L Cases, Study Finds
Sep 11 2008 // The U.S. subprime-mortgage crisis has now spurred more federal lawsuits than the savings and loan debacle of the late 1980s and early 1990s ever did, data released Wednesday shows. The number of new mortgage-related civil...
Ferocious Hurricane Ike in Gulf of Mexico, Headed for Texas
Sep 11 2008 // Hurricane Ike gathered strength as it churned through the Gulf of Mexico’s warm waters Thursday on a track that would skirt the heart of the U.S. offshore oil patch before slamming into the Texas coast late Friday or...
U.S. Court Upholds Vermont’s $183M Ambassador Insurance Judgment
Sep 11 2008 // The U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued has upheld a judgment of $182.9 million in a malpractice case against the accounting firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers for its dealings with the failed Ambassador Insurance...
