Latest USA Headlines

All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.

AIG to Sell Aircraft Leasing Unit ILFC for $5 Billion

Dec 16 2013 // American International Group Inc. agreed to sell the world’s second-largest aircraft lessor to AerCap Holdings NV for $5 billion after a group of Chinese bidders missed deadlines to purchase the business. AerCap will...

Cantor Fitzgerald, American Airlines Settle 9/11 Lawsuit

Dec 16 2013 // Cantor Fitzgerald has agreed to settle a lawsuit against American Airlines Group Inc and its insurers over business and property losses stemming from the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, in which the Wall...

IAG to Buy Wesfarmers Insurance Business for A$1.85 Billion

Dec 16 2013 // Insurance Australia Group Ltd. agreed to buy Wesfarmers Ltd.’s insurance underwriting businesses in Australia and New Zealand for A$1.85 billion [US$1.653 billion] to become the largest insurer in...

10 Things to Know About Skiing & Snowboarding

Dec 16 2013 // The preliminary estimate of the number of U.S. skier/snowboarder visits for the 2012/2013 season is 56.6 million. The Rocky Mountain region had the most visits, with 19.5 million, followed by the Northeast region, with...

How Insurance Industry Associations Help Those in Need

Dec 16 2013 // Big “I” member agents, along with former Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann, at a Make-A-Wish event on April 21, 2013, at Pfitzner Stadium in Woodbridge, Va., to benefit local children. Big...

U.S. Insurance Broker Sector Outlook Positive for 2014: Fitch

Dec 16 2013 // Revenue and earnings growth for U.S. insurance brokers in 2014 is expected to improve modestly over 2013, according to a report by Fitch Ratings. Fitch, which issued a stable rating outlook and positive sector outlook for...

P/C Industry Supportive But Cautious on Federal Insurance Office Recommendations

Dec 13 2013 // Insurers, agents, brokers and state regulators welcome modernization and improvements in the current regulation of insurance, but are not so welcoming of changes that might invite regulation by the federal government. The...

Ascent Launches Medical Billings E&O Coverage for U.S. Healthcare Professionals

Dec 13 2013 // Ascent Underwriting, the Managing General Agent (MGA) specialising in emerging risks, has launched a medical billings errors & omissions insurance product specifically aimed at U.S. healthcare professionals. CyberPro...

Best Downgrades Issuer Credit Ratings of QBE’s U.S. Subsidiaries; Affirms FSR

Dec 13 2013 // A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the issuer credit ratings (ICR) to “a” from “a+” and affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) of the pooled and reinsured members of...

Federal Auto Safety Regulator Strickland to Exit

Dec 13 2013 // The top U.S. auto-safety regulator will step down, as his agency investigates fires in Tesla Motors Inc. electric cars and is behind schedule on implementing a rule requiring backup cameras in new cars. U.S. National...

QBE Bond Risk Surges as U.S. Expansion Sours: Australia Credit Risk

Dec 13 2013 // Bond risk on QBE Insurance Group Ltd. halved in the first 11 months of the year before surging this month as the company said it would lose money. Credit-default swaps on QBE have climbed 41 basis points since Nov. 30 to...

Anadarko, Kerr-McGee Liable for Pollution Costs of Spun-Off Paint Unit Tronox

Dec 12 2013 // Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and its Kerr-McGee unit acted with “intent to hinder” when they spun off Tronox, the paint materials company that later went bankrupt, and should pay billions of dollars in...

Anderson & Murison’s Lechler ‘Student of the Business’

Dec 12 2013 // Horst Leonard Lechler, former president of Anderson & Murison in Pasadena, Calif. and past president of the American Association of Managing General Agents, was a “student of the business” and a...

Federal Insurance Office Releases Long-Awaited Modernization Report

Dec 12 2013 // After nearly two years of delay, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office (FIO) today released its report on how to modernize and improve the system of insurance regulation in the United...

Protx Risk Management Launches Bancshield+ Portfolio for Community Banks

Dec 12 2013 // Protx Risk Management LLC, a managing general agency that focuses on professional liability insurance, has introduced a suite of professional liability products for U.S. community banks, including directors and officers...

IICF Northeast Division Awards 16 New Grants Totaling $879,000

Dec 12 2013 // The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF) Northeast division announced 16 charitable grants at its seventh annual benefit dinner on Wednesday. The total amount of the grants is $879,000. Lisa Tepper, chair of the...

Drilling Boom Leaves Some Neighbors with Damages, Depressed House Values

Dec 12 2013 // When Gary Gless bought his sleek, modernist house in Los Angeles in 2002, he thought he had hit a “gold mine.” The world’s largest inner-city park – featuring a lush, 18-hole golf course – was...

Bond Managers Gain as Pension Funds Flock to Catastrophe Risk

Dec 12 2013 // Funds specializing in insurance-linked risks such as catastrophe bonds are benefiting as the $30 trillion pension industry increases bets in a market that hasn’t posted an annual loss. At Leadenhall Capital Partners...

Obamacare November Enrollment Tops 250,000; Sebelius Seeks Probe of Botched Launch

Dec 11 2013 // More than 250,000 Americans selected private health insurance plans through Obamacare enrollment systems last month, better than twice as many as in October when the exchanges opened amid technology errors and...

Chinese Hackers Spied on Europeans before G20 Meeting: Research Firm

Dec 11 2013 // Chinese hackers eavesdropped on the computers of five European foreign ministries before last September’s G20 Summit, which was dominated by the Syrian crisis, according to research by computer security firm FireEye...