Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
60% of P/C Execs See 2016 Much Like 2015; 55% Expect Democrat to Win White House
Jan 13 2016 // Leaders of the property/casualty insurance industry expect 2016 to be a profitable year much like 2015 but do not see any increase in profitability this year for most lines of insurance, and they do not expect the economy...
Paulson’s PaCRe Shuts Down After Investment Slump, Bermuda Tax Uncertainties
Jan 13 2016 // Billionaire John Paulson’s New York hedge fund firm has shut an operation in Bermuda that had been targeted by a Democratic lawmaker as a tax shelter. Paulson’s venture, a reinsurer named PaCRe Ltd., has...
Update: Dutch Insurer Aegon Plans $432M Share Buy-Back, to Cut U.S. Costs
Jan 13 2016 // Aegon NV jumped the most in almost six years after saying it plans to buy back 400 million euros ($432 million) of shares and cut costs to improve its return on equity. The Dutch owner of insurer Transamerica Corp....
Liberty International Underwriters Appoints 3 Senior VPs
Jan 12 2016 // Liberty International Underwriters (LIU), part of Liberty Mutual Insurance, has hired William Bell as senior vice president of U.S. Environmental. LIU also announced two promotions: Mike Nukk to senior vice president of...
Despite Costly Bird Flu, Chicken Farmers Reject Vaccine
Jan 12 2016 // Determined to avoid a repeat of the nation’s worst-ever avian-influenza outbreak, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is stockpiling up to 500 million doses of a new vaccine — but many in the $48 billion poultry...
Boies, Edwards Among 140 Lawyers Vying to Take Lead Against Volkswagen
Jan 12 2016 // Among the more than 140 plaintiffs’ lawyers competing to lead private litigation against Volkswagen over its emissions cheating scandal is former U.S. Senator and Democratic Vice-Presidential candidate John...
15 State AGs Join Federal Antitrust Probe of Giant Health Insurers’ Mergers: Reuters
Jan 12 2016 // About 15 state attorneys general have joined the Justice Department’s probe of two big insurance mergers, according to people familiar with the matter, increasing the scrutiny on proposed deals that would reduce the...
Automakers, U.S. to Unveil Safety Collaboration Pact
Jan 12 2016 // The U.S. government and a group of global automakers are set to unveil a voluntary agreement at the Detroit auto show on Friday aimed at improving auto industry safety and spurring culture changes, according to company and...
Supreme Court Lets Stand $124M Penalty Against Risperdal Drugmaker
Jan 11 2016 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary’s appeal of a $124 million penalty imposed by South Carolina after a jury found the drugmaker had improperly marketed the...
Supreme Court Says Nestle Must Face Liability Claim for Foreign Child Slavery
Jan 11 2016 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected a bid by Nestle SA, the world’s largest food maker, and two other companies to throw out a lawsuit seeking to hold them liable for the use of child slaves to harvest cocoa in...
First Trial Over Faulty GM Ignition Switch to Open Today
Jan 11 2016 // General Motors is set to go to trial Monday in a lawsuit over its 2014 recall of millions of vehicles for a faulty ignition switch linked to nearly 400 injuries and deaths. In the lawsuit, plaintiff Robert Scheuers claims...
Hackers Caused Ukraine Outage with Malware & Remote Power Cut: Report
Jan 11 2016 // Hackers likely caused a Dec. 23 electricity outage in Ukraine by remotely switching breakers to cut power, after installing malware to prevent technicians from detecting the attack, according to a report analyzing how the...
Fitch Expects Modest Gains for U.S. Insurance Brokers in 2016
Jan 11 2016 // Revenues and earnings for public U.S. insurance brokers are likely to modestly improve in 2016 relative to levels reported through nine months of 2015, according to Fitch Ratings’ 2016 U.S. Insurance Broker Outlook...
Changing Oil & Gas Industry Delivers New Risks, New Challenges
Jan 11 2016 // Editor’s Note: This is the first article in a three-part series on the oil and gas industry. The second article will address new and emerging claims trends and the third article will address the emerging risks...
New Look in Franchise Liability
Jan 11 2016 // Businesses known for their uniforms are worried about lawyers in business suits in the wake of a change in the nation’s labor laws affecting their liability for employment practices. The change could unravel the...
Entrepreneurs Raise $13 Million to ‘Reinvent’ U.S. P/C Insurance with Peer-to-Peer Insurer Lemonade
Jan 11 2016 // The U.S. property/casualty insurance industry is about to be tested directly by the sharing economy. Two tech entrepreneurs have raised $13 million in initial funding to launch a peer-to-peer online property/casualty...
Former Tyson Benefits Manager Sentenced to 28 Months in Federal Prison
Jan 8 2016 // A former benefits plan manager for Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson Inc. has been sentenced to 28 months in prison for defrauding the company of more than $550,000. Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas,...
Outlook for U.S. Commercial P/C Insurance Still Negative: A.M. Best
Jan 8 2016 // Rating agency A.M. Best said it is maintaining its negative outlook on the commercial lines segment of the U.S. property/casualty (P/C) industry, despite relatively solid aggregate results over the past several years. The...
2015: Second ‘Hottest’ Year on Record in U.S. Included 10 Major Weather Events
Jan 8 2016 // Last year was the second hottest on record in the contiguous United States, and included 10 major weather and climate events, such as droughts and storms, that each led to over $1 billion in damages, the National Oceanic...
Reinsurance Group Head Puts Science in Climate Change Discussion
Jan 7 2016 // Asked for his thoughts on climate change, Frank Nutter expeditiously turned to science. His sphere of influence is far-ranging as president of the Reinsurance Association of America, a position he’s held since 1991....
