Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
New York’s Fraud Suit Against JPMorgan May Aid Private Lawsuits
Oct 3 2012 // New York state’s lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase & Co. alleging fraud in mortgage-backed securities sold by Bear Stearns may be one of the broadest cases to come out of the financial crisis, but its impact is...
Supreme Court Weighs Government Liability Under Credit Reporting Law
Oct 3 2012 // The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday considered whether the federal government could be liable for money damages by printing confidential credit card information on a customer’s receipt, increasing the risk of identity...
US Fidelis Founders Sentenced to Prison in Missouri
Oct 2 2012 // The co-founders of defunct St. Louis-area auto service contract seller, US Fidelis, has been sentenced to prison on charges of stealing consumers’ refunds, insurance fraud and consumer fraud. Missouri Attorney...
Best Affirms QBE’s U.S. Subsidiaries Ratings; Upgrades Some ICR’s
Oct 2 2012 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a+” of the pooled and reinsured members of QBE North America Insurance Group...
Supreme Court Lets Black Brokers’ Bias Case Against Merrill Proceed
Oct 2 2012 // The U.S. Supreme Court refused to consider an appeal by Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch unit of a ruling that allowed black brokers who accused it of bias to pursue their lawsuit as a class action. Without...
WTO Director Lamy Says Doha Round Rescue in US, China’s Hands
Oct 2 2012 // World Trade Organization Director General Pascal Lamy on Monday acknowledged the Geneva-based grouping has been a “disappointing” forum for trade liberalization but placed the blame for moribund world trade...
Best Affirms QBE Insurance Group ‘A’ Ratings; Outlook Stable
Oct 1 2012 // A.M. Best Europe – Rating Services Limited has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a+” of UK-based QBE Insurance (Europe)...
Supreme Court to Hear Employer Liability, Class Certification in New Term
Oct 1 2012 // The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to review close to 40 cases in its new term that begins on Monday, roughly half the number the court is expected to hear this year. Below are some of the more prominent cases that the...
Former FDIC Chair Bair Reveals Financial Bailout Details in Book
Sep 26 2012 // When Sheila Bair showed up for a meeting in then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson’s office in October 2008, the bank regulator had no idea she was about to be asked to guarantee the debts of the entire $13 trillion...
Court Certifies Gender Bias Class Action Against Costco
Sep 26 2012 // A U.S. judge has certified a class action lawsuit against Costco Wholesale Corp. over allegations of gender discrimination in the store’s promotion practices. Three women plaintiffs say Costco’s promotion...
Court Revives Ex-Chrysler Executives’ Age Bias Claims
Sep 26 2012 // Hundreds of former Chrysler LLC executives claiming they lost retirement benefits because of age bias can sue the company’s former parent Daimler AG, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Tuesday. More than 450 former auto...
USI Completes Acquisition of TD Bank’s U.S. Insurance Subsidiary
Sep 25 2012 // USI Insurance Services, a brokerage and financial service firm based in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., said Monday it has completed the acquisition of TD Insurance Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of TD Bank, N.A. The transaction was...
Judge Lets Wal-Mart Discrimination Case Proceed
Sep 24 2012 // A U.S. judge rejected Wal-Mart Stores Inc.’s request to dismiss a gender discrimination case filed in California, but said he would rule later about whether the women plaintiffs had enough evidence to be certified as...
Catalina Acquires Runoff Vehicle KX Re from Tawa
Sep 24 2012 // Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd has announced that it has signed a definitive Share Purchase Agreement to acquire 100 percent of the shares in KX Reinsurance Company Limited, including KX Re’s wholly owned subsidiary...
China Eases Access to Insurance, Travel industries
Sep 24 2012 // China has eased restrictions on foreign companies in parts of its insurance, travel and delivery industries in a possible effort to reverse a slide in investment from abroad, an American business group said Friday. Some of...
A Milestone for AIG
Sep 24 2012 // We have a news item in this Sept. 24 issue, on page 8, that marks a milestone for one of the most talked about U.S. corporations in recent times. For the first time since its $182 billion bailout by the U.S. Treasury...
People – East
Sep 24 2012 // Marsh & McLennan Cos. appointed J. Michael Bischoff as chief financial officer. Bischoff has been serving as interim CFO since March 2012 when then-CFO Vanessa Wittman resigned to join Google as its Motorola Mobility...
ACE Accuses OneBeacon of Poaching Employees
Sep 24 2012 // ACE American Insurance Co. recently filed a lawsuit against OneBeacon U.S. Holdings Inc. In its lawsuit, filed in Pennsylvania, ACE alleges that OneBeacon poached the entire eight member-team that made up ACE’s East...
Report: Wildfires Pose Risk to Three Quarter-Million Western U.S. Homes
Sep 24 2012 // More than three-quarters of a million homes in the Western U.S. have a high risk of wildfire damage, according to a report released by Santa Ana, Calif.-based CoreLogic. CoreLogic’s Wildfire Hazard Risk Report...
3 States Join Lawsuit Challenging Dodd-Frank Law
Sep 23 2012 // Three U.S. states have joined a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law that overhauled U.S. financial oversight and created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The attorneys general...
