Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010 Was Bigger Than Satellite Images Showed
Feb 14 2020 // Toxic and invisible oil spread well beyond the known satellite footprint of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a new study. Scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel school of Marine and...
Insured Losses for Europe’s Storm Ciara-Sabine Could Hit $2 Billion: Modeling Firms
Feb 14 2020 // Catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide estimates that insured losses due to wind from Europe’s winter storm Ciara (also known as Sabine) will range between €1.1 billion and €1.9 billion (US$1.2 billion and...
AAA Carolinas Merges with The Auto Club Group
Feb 14 2020 // The Auto Club Group (ACG) and AAA Carolinas have merged and combined operations, it was announced last month. With North and South Carolina part of The Auto Club Group family, the company now serves more than 13.5 million...
Brooks Brothers and Brooks Running Shoes Clash Over Trademark
Feb 13 2020 // Brooks, the running shoe and apparel unit of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against Brooks Brothers, pitting two companies whose roots date back more than...
N.H. Stone Products Manufacturer Cited for Hazards Following Employee Fatality
Feb 13 2020 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Quartz and Stone Creations of New Hampshire LLC for crushing and other hazards following an employee fatality on July 19,...
‘Numbers Guy’ Zaffino Expected to Succeed Duperreault as AIG CEO…Eventually
Feb 12 2020 // Peter Zaffino sat at 2 World Trade Center poring over financial reports on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when the first plane struck a neighboring building. Zaffino, known by colleagues for his laser-like focus, remained...
Man Pleads Guilty to Burning African American Churches in Louisiana
Feb 12 2020 // The aspiring ‘black metal’ musician who was arrested in a series of fires set at African American churches in Louisiana last spring pleaded guilty to federal and state criminal charges. The U.S....
Coronavirus Clouds U.S. Outlook But Economic Impact Should be Modest: S&P
Feb 12 2020 // The coronavirus outbreak in China is clouding the global outlook and leading to both business caution and potential overall weakness in U.S. growth, according to S&P Global. However, given its limited exposure, the...
‘Rivers in the Sky’ Causing Billions in Flood Damage in U.S.
Feb 12 2020 // Climate change is spurring a new, deep dive into a complex, little-studied weather system blamed for creating billions of dollars in flood damage across the western U.S. Atmospheric rivers are narrow ribbons of...
Lawmakers Urged to Help U.S. Keep Up with China on Autonomous Vehicles
Feb 12 2020 // A U.S. House panel on Tuesday heard from advocates of imposing stricter safeguards for self-driving cars as part of any effort to speed the adoption of the vehicles on U.S. roads. At the same subcommittee hearing, groups...
Penn. Company Fined More Than $280K for Exposing Employees to Safety Hazards
Feb 12 2020 // The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Cleveland Brothers Inc. – doing business as CB HYMAC – for exposing workers to hexavalent chromium fumes and other...
Global Commercial Insurance Prices Increase 11% in 4th Quarter 2019: Marsh
Feb 12 2020 // Global average commercial insurance prices increased 11% in the fourth quarter of 2019, according to the Global Insurance Market Index released by insurance broker Marsh. The fourth quarter rise in prices was the largest...
U.S. Storms, Global Floods, Bushfires Cause Economic Damages of $3B-Plus in January
Feb 11 2020 // U.S. storms, Australian bushfires and hailstorms, and floods in various countries across the globe caused more than $3 billion in economic damages during January, according to Aon’s Global Catastrophe Recap report,...
U.S. Charges Four Chinese Military Hackers in Huge Equifax Data Breach in 2017
Feb 11 2020 // The United States has charged four Chinese military hackers in the 2017 breach of the Equifax credit reporting agency that affected nearly 150 million American citizens, Attorney General William Barr said on...
Uber, Postmates Lose Bid to Block California Gig Worker Law… for Now
Feb 10 2020 // A U.S. judge on Monday rejected a request by Uber Technologies Inc. and courier services provider Postmates Inc. to block a California labor law from taking effect, saying the bill’s public benefits outweighed the...
How Data-Dependent Federal Reserve Is Growing to Like Private Company Big Data
Feb 10 2020 // About a year ago, Federal Reserve officials were nervous. Markets were cratering. Fear about a trade war was rising. The officials needed to know if the turmoil was chilling consumer spending. Problem was, a partial...
Business Moves
Feb 10 2020 // East The Hilb Group, Kerr-Boswell, Wickford Insurance Agency The Hilb Group LLC has acquired Virginia-based Kerr-Boswell Inc. For more than 60 years, KB has provided employee benefits, property/casualty, life, health and...
Workers’ Compensation Is Doing Well. Is It Time to Worry?
Feb 10 2020 // Although workers’ compensation results remain strong — and the line continues to outperform all other commercial insurance lines — worries about continued soft pricing and loss reserve levels for...
20 Noteworthy Agency Merger Stories of 2019
Feb 10 2020 // 1. January Nationwide Acquires Liability Insurance Program Manager E-Risk Services: Nationwide acquired a New Jersey privately held program manager specializing in management liability lines. Nationwide said E-Risk will...
Private Equity Still Driving Agency M&As
Feb 10 2020 // Digital Buys Getting Some Attention; Buyers Getting Bigger; Prices Going Higher; Eyes on Digital The private equity bandwagon continued to roll through the insurance agency and brokerage mergers and acquisitions territory...
