Latest USA Headlines

QBE Net Profits up 30% to US$1.786 Billion

Feb 26 2008 // Australia’s QBE Insurance Group announced that operating profit after tax for the year ended 31 December 2007 was up 30 percent to a record A$1.925 billion ($US1.786 billion). Other key highlights for the year were...

U.S. Healthcare Spending Surge Expected in Next Decade

Feb 26 2008 // U.S. health-care spending will devour an expanding share of the U.S. economy during the next decade, almost doubling to about $4.3 trillion in 2017, government officials forecast Tuesday. Economists at the U.S....

Charges Against Rep. Renzi of Ariz. Include Land Swap, Insurance Fraud

Feb 26 2008 // Republican U.S. Rep. Rick Renzi of Arizona has been indicted on a slew of public corruption charges and for stealing from his insurance company’s clients to fund his first campaign, federal authorities announced. The...

OdysseyRe Taps Young to Head Global Insurance, London Market Operations

Feb 26 2008 // U.S.-based Odyssey Re Holdings Corp. announced that, effective April 1, 2008, Brian Young will become Chief Executive Officer – Global Insurance and London Market Operations. He presently manages OdysseyRe’s...

CNinsure Reports Q4, FY Financial Results

Feb 26 2008 // China’s CNinsure Inc. has announced its unaudited financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2007. The bulletin noted that the earnings announcement “contains translations of...

Zach Scruggs Asks for Separation from Father in Katrina-Related Case

Feb 26 2008 // For most of his life, Zach Scruggs has benefited from his last name. As a partner in his father Richard “Dickie” Scruggs’ law firm, the younger Scruggs is entitled to millions in legal fees and the...

Coastal Growth, Not Global Warming, Blamed for Rising Storm Losses

Feb 25 2008 // A hurricane that hit Miami in 1926 would cause up to $157 billion in damage if it were to strike today, according to a recent study. U.S. storm costs are rising because of higher populations and wealth on the coasts, not a...

Aon Buying ‘Substantially All’ of Gallagher’s U.S/UK Reinsurance

Feb 25 2008 // Aon Corporation announced that it has reached an agreement “to acquire substantially all of Gallagher Re’s U.S. and U.K. reinsurance brokerage business. In addition, a team of industry professionals from...

Judge Narrows N.Y.-N.J. Port Authority’s 9/11 Insurance Claim

Feb 25 2008 // The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey can collect insurance only for damage inflicted on two buildings of the World Trade Center site destroyed on Sept. 11, 2001, rather than for the entire complex, a U.S. District...

Feb 24 2008 // People Managing general agency and surplus lines wholesaler U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc. named Terri Haselden vice president and manager of the Dallas Commercial Underwriting Department. Haselden, an experienced...

Time to Invest Infrastructure

Feb 24 2008 // U.S. District Judge Stanwood Duval recently dismissed a lawsuit against the U.S. Corps of Engineers over levee failures in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Duval ruled the Corps had immunity from the...

The Promise of NAFTA Not Quite Fulfilled

Feb 24 2008 // It’s been a long, frustrating process for most participants In February 2002, Insurance Journal reported that Congress and the Bush Administration had reached a deal whereby the trucking provisions of the North...

AIG’s $5 Billion Write-Down Has Rating Agencies, Wall Street Concerned

Feb 24 2008 // Some observers speculate the fallout could lead to additional woes for AIG including possibly CEO Sullivan’s exit While American International Group Inc. sought to downplay its miscalculation of losses on a...

Oregon High Court Reaffirms $79.5 Million Award in Philip Morris Case

Feb 24 2008 // The Oregon Supreme Court for a third time has allowed a $79.5 million punitive-damages judgment against Philip Morris, an award twice struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, which suggested it was excessive. The award was...

Business Moves

Feb 24 2008 // Chartwell Independent Insurance Brokers Chartwell Independent Insurance Brokers LLC, a Los Angeles-based wholesale and specialty insurance broker focusing on high-risk, hard-to-place coverage, has opened a new office in...

States Make Progress But Still Unprepared for Pandemic, Says U.S.

Feb 22 2008 // In the first report of its kind, U.S. health officials said the nation’s states and cities made a strong effort to prepare for a flu pandemic, bioterrorism or other emergency health crises, but big challenges...

Federal Court in NYC Chides Immigration Lawyers

Feb 22 2008 // Immigrants seeking legal status in the United States are being victimized with disturbing frequency by their lawyers, a federal appeals panel said. After criticizing the work done and not done by defense lawyers, the...

Berkowitz To Head Risk Management/Operations for PMI

Feb 22 2008 // PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., a subsidiary of The PMI Group, Inc., has appointed Joanne Berkowitz as executive vice president for risk management and operations. In this capacity Berkowitz will be responsible for optimizing...

U.S. Court Dismisses ‘Agent Orange’ Case Against Chemical Firms

Feb 22 2008 // A federal appeals court Friday upheld a lower court ruling dismissing a civil lawsuit against major U.S. chemical companies brought by Vietnamese plaintiffs over the use of dioxin, or “agent orange,” during the...

IRS Agrees to Drop Captive Insurance Tax Change

Feb 21 2008 // The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has dropped plans to change the way that captive insurance companies are taxed. U.S. Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said that the IRS informed them it has...