Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calls for Tougher Chemical Regulation Follow West Virginia Spill
Jan 14 2014 // A chemical spill that left 300,000 people in West Virginia unable to drink their water is reviving calls for more stringent regulation of thousands of chemical storage sites in the U.S., especially those near water...
Top 10 Corporate Risks in 2014: Allianz Risk Barometer
Jan 14 2014 // Business interruption (BI) and supply chain, natural catastrophes and fire/explosion top the list of company risks in 2014, according to the third annual Allianz Risk Barometer, which surveyed over 400 corporate insurance...
Top 2013 Jury Awards: Price-Fixing, Nursing Home Liability, Defamation
Jan 14 2014 // U.S. juries awarded three verdicts of $1 billion or more for the third straight year in 2013, topped by a $1.2 billion award against Dow Chemical Co., the largest ever in a price-fixing case. Second was $1.1 billion...
Global Natural Disasters Cost Insurers $45B in 2013: Impact Forecasting
Jan 13 2014 // In 2013, there were 296 separate natural disaster events that produced total economic losses of $192 billion – four percent below the 10-year average of $200 billion, but above the average 259 events, according to a...
AIG Rebranding, Expanding Retirement Services As Others Retreat
Jan 13 2014 // American International Group Inc. plans to add 600 advisers and expand their offerings to boost sales as rivals retreat from some retirement products. The insurer will increase the number of career agents at its newly...
BP Oil Spill Settlement Fight Wages On
Jan 13 2014 // BP Plc’s $9.2 billion partial settlement over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill was upheld by an appeals court over the company’s protest that the deal wasn’t valid unless a claims-payment dispute was...
Policing the ‘Dark Side’ of Internet of Things
Jan 13 2014 // The futuristic world of self-driving cars, eyeglasses that e-mail and trash cans that call for pickup is running into the old-fashioned pace of doing business in Washington. Companies from Google Inc. to Bayerische Motoren...
EnPro’s Garlock Wins Trial on Asbestos Liability; Judge Hits Claimants’ Lawyers
Jan 13 2014 // Garlock Sealing Technologies LLC, a unit of EnPro Industries Inc., emerged victorious after a trial with official representatives of asbestos personal injury claimants. Adopting the company’s estimate, U.S....
People – West
Jan 13 2014 // Equity Risk Partners named four insurance industry executives to its team in California, while also establishing the firm’s physical presence in Southern California. Equity’s new executive hires are Doug...
10 Things to Know About Employment Practices Liability Insurance
Jan 13 2014 // The employment practices liability insurance (EPLI) line has been showing the largest price hikes in U.S. commercial insurance. The EPL line’s year-over-year price increases spiked into double digits during the 2013...
P/C Insurers Show Big Gain in Underwriting Profits
Jan 13 2014 // Private U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes rose to $43 billion in nine-months 2013 from $27.8 billion in nine-months 2012, with insurers’ overall profitability as measured by their...
Business Moves
Jan 13 2014 // Brown & Brown, ICA Brown & Brown Inc. has acquired certain assets of insurance claims adjusting firm ICA Inc., based in Charlotte, N.C. Terms were not disclosed. With annualized net revenues of approximately...
Construction Obstruction
Jan 13 2014 // Skilled Labor Shortage and Lax Safety Could Injure Construction Insurance Market For agents and brokers serving the contractors and subcontractors market that barely scraped by during the recession, the year 2013 brought...
People – Midwest
Jan 13 2014 // Waukesha, Wis.-based R&R Insurance Services Inc. has welcomed Josh Timm as account executive. Timm has more than 10 years of insurance industry experience. He has held multiple sales, marketing and service positions...
CGI Loses Obamacare Contract to Accenture: Report
Jan 10 2014 // CGI Group Inc., the company that built the federal Obamacare website, will be replaced next month when its contract with the U.S. government expires, a person familiar with the decision said. The Obama administration...
Bill Giving White House ‘Fast Track’ Trade Pact Authority Filed But Passage Uncertain
Jan 10 2014 // U.S. lawmakers on Thursday proposed a bill to give the White House power to fast-track international trade agreements as the United States gears up for a hectic year of trade negotiations. The bill would let the...
Pressure Mounts to Improve Oil-Rail Safety; Older Tank Cars in Canada Crash
Jan 10 2014 // Political pressure to quickly improve the safety of crude oil rail shipments intensified in Washington on Thursday, while Canadian officials said two of the cars involved in the latest fiery derailment were of an older...
China’s Fosun Buys 80% of Portugal’s Caixa Insurer for $1.36 Billion
Jan 10 2014 // China’s Fosun International Ltd. bought 80 percent of Portugal’s Caixa Geral de Depositos SA’s insurance unit for €1 billion ($1.36 billion), beating out U.S. buyout firm Apollo Management International...
Insurance M&A Trends That May Lead to ‘Perfect Storm’ in 2014
Jan 9 2014 // Encouraged by a vigorous period of insurance M&A activity in the second half of 2012, many in the industry had high expectations of robustness in 2013. It’s clear now that 2013 M&A activity did not reach the...
Senate Bill Seeks More Disclosure of Government Settlements with Firms
Jan 8 2014 // Two U.S. lawmakers on Wednesday unveiled a new bill that would force enforcement agencies to provide more details about deals to resolve corporate misconduct by U.S. companies. Senators Elizabeth Warren, the Massachusetts...
