Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Exporting Exposures
Jul 7 2008 // As an important link in the global supply chain, exporters face many exposures Small and midsize U.S. companies are sharply increasing their exports, encouraged by falling trade barriers, a weakening dollar that makes...
U.S. Government Ignores Own Advice on ID Theft Prevention
Jul 3 2008 // When it comes to the risks of identity theft, the U.S. government isn’t taking its own advice. The nation’s Medicare agency and the Pentagon compel at least 52 million Americans to carry their Social Security...
Willis Wins U.S. Approval for HRH Acquisition
Jul 3 2008 // Willis Group Holdings Ltd , the No. 3 global insurance broker, won approval to buy rival Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co, the Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday. Willis valued the cash and stock deal at $1.7 billion when...
White House Says G8 Can’t Set Global Climate Goals Alone
Jul 2 2008 // The Group of Eight major industrialized countries (G8) meeting next week in Japan cannot by themselves set effective long-term world goals on curbing greenhouse gas emissions, the White House said on Tuesday. “With...
S&P: Affirms QBE’s Ratings; Praetorian Upgraded to Core Status
Jul 2 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has affirmed its insurer financial strength and counterparty credit ratings on holding company QBE Insurance Group Ltd. (currently rated ‘A-‘) and QBE’s core...
U.S. Agriculture Chief Cites Obstacles to Aid to Farmers Hurt by Flooding
Jul 2 2008 // The U.S. agriculture secretary says he is concerned that legal hurdles prevented much immediate federal help for Midwestern farmers faced with serious setbacks because of flooding. “I think everybody is frustrated...
Prosecutors Seek Joint Trial for La. Lawmaker Linked to Insurance Scam
Jul 2 2008 // A Louisiana state senator should be tried alongside the woman he allegedly helped launder money to hide her illegal operation of an insurance business, prosecutors argue in court papers filed June 30, State Sen. Derrick...
Walter Bell Appointed to Bermuda Monetary Authority’s Board
Jul 1 2008 // The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) announced that it has appointed Walter A. Bell to a position on its Board of Directors, as its first international member. The BMA regulates financial services for Bermuda-based...
Europe Ratings Recap: Montpelier Syndicate 5151, Alliance Int’l., Tryggingamidstödin
Jun 30 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its interactive Lloyd’s Syndicate Assessment (LSA) of ‘3-‘ (average dependency) to U.K.-based Montpelier Syndicate 5151 with a stable outlook....
High-Profile U.S. Trial Lawyer Scruggs Sentenced to 5 Years
Jun 30 2008 // A high-profile Mississippi lawyer, who became unpopular on Wall Street for battling powerful companies, was sentenced to five years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to conspiring to bribe a judge. Richard...
Allied World Assurance to Acquire Darwin Professional Underwriters
Jun 30 2008 // Bermuda-based Allied World Assurance Co., Ltd. has agreed to acquire Connecticut-based Darwin Professional Underwriters, Inc. Darwin offers specialty and primary professional lines coverages, which include health care...
New ‘Carbon Revolution’ Urged to Slow Global Warming
Jun 26 2008 // The world needs a shift as radical as the Industrial Revolution to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, while safeguarding economic growth, the McKinsey Global Institute said on Thursday. Its study said that a modern...
Insurers, Tech Firms, Consumers Agree on Electronic Health Record Rules
Jun 26 2008 // A major consumer group, insurers together with Google Inc. and Microsoft Corp. said Wednesday they have agreed to standards intended to speed adoption of personal electronic health records. The electronic medical record...
Supreme Court Rules $2.5 Billion Exxon-Valdez Damages Excessive
Jun 25 2008 // The Supreme Court Wednesday overturned the record $2.5 billion in punitive damages that Exxon Mobil Corp had been ordered to pay for the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska. The nation’s highest court ruled that...
U.S. Medical Device Makers Fear Rise in State Lawsuits
Jun 24 2008 // The U.S. medical device industry’s worst short-term fear may be actor Dennis Quaid. Quaid last month urged Congress to preserve patients’ rights to sue drug and device makers in state courts, after his twin...
Cat Bond Markets Resist Credit Crunch
Jun 24 2008 // Forced asset sales that have frozen major markets in the credit crisis have caused barely a ripple in the $22 billion catastrophe bond market this year and instead only enhanced its liquidity. Goldman Sachs estimates...
U.S. Scientist Urges Emmissions Tax to Cut Greenhouse Gasses
Jun 24 2008 // The scientist who 20 years ago first told Congress that the Earth’s climate was warming said Monday that urgent action was needed to cut greenhouse gases and proposed a tax on carbon emissions. James Hansen, the...
ACE Comments on Impact of Midwest Floods on Crop Insurance Results
Jun 24 2008 // Bermuda-based ACE Limited has announced that, based on current estimates, the impact of the recent floods in the Midwestern U.S. “will have a negligible impact on both second quarter and full-year earnings per share...
Feds Warn 16 Mining Companies over Safety Issues
Jun 23 2008 // Federal Mine Safety and Health Administration officials said they told 16 U.S. mining companies they have patterns of violating health and safety rules and warned them to clean up their acts or face heightened...
Levees Hold Back Cresting Mississippi River; Aid Requests Mount
Jun 23 2008 // Walls and levees held back the cresting Mississippi River Sunday as requests for government aid poured in from homeowners and businesses swamped by the worst Midwest flooding in 15 years. Across from St. Louis, where the...
