Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Chairman Nelson Charts Future Course for Lloyd’s
Oct 8 2012 // Lloyd’s of London Chairman John Nelson knew when he acceded to his post one year ago that his predecessor, Lord Peter Levene, would be a hard act to follow. Levene served for nine years and oversaw significant...
Report Points to Insurance Industry’s Vulnerability to Climate Change
Oct 8 2012 // A report out late last month urges the insurance industry to act to protect itself and the community against the increasing frequency of extreme weather due to climate change. In short, the report, its authors and those...
A Growing Economy
Oct 8 2012 // Media reports notwithstanding, the U.S. economy, while sluggish, is not in danger of going over the fiscal cliff. That’s according to a couple of insurance industry executives, who say that private sector job hiring...
Slow and Steady: Surplus Lines Industry Reverses Downward Trend; Optimism Good for 2012
Oct 8 2012 // Despite catastrophic events in 2011, low investment yields and competitive pressures, surplus lines specialists — especially market leaders — generated healthy operating profits and returns on both revenue and...
Declarations – West
Oct 8 2012 // It’s Congress “It certainly raises some interesting issues. Of course, there’s a huge presumption that when Congress passes a law, it’s constitutional.” —Timothy McTaggart, a partner at law...
Midwest in the Middle for Cost of Employees
Oct 8 2012 // In the United States, employer costs for employees in private industry range from $26.14 per hour in the South to $32.98 in the Northeast. According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the same costs are $28.06 in the...
Austin, San Antonio to Share $400K to Fight Intellectual Property Theft
Oct 5 2012 // United States Attorney for the Western District of Texas Robert Pitman announced that the San Antonio Police Department and the Austin Police Department will each receive $200,000 in federal grant money to combat the...
Facebook IPO Lawsuits to Be Heard in Court in New York
Oct 5 2012 // Dozens of lawsuits against Facebook Inc., the NASDAQ exchange and various underwriters will be centralized before a federal judge in New York, who must sort through the legal aftermath of Facebook’s botched initial...
Lawmaker Warns of New Cyber Threats to U.S. Financial Networks
Oct 5 2012 // The head of the House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said on Thursday that significant new cyber threats to U.S. financial networks appeared to be emerging from an “unusual” source. Committee...
Surplus Lines: Regulators Vetting of Alien Nonadmitted Insurers
Oct 4 2012 // The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is a non-profit entity that acts as the trade association for state insurance commissioners. Although the NAIC may play a central role in regulation of the...
P/C Insurers’ Profits Jump in First Half as Catastrophe Losses Drop
Oct 4 2012 // U.S. property/casualty insurers’ net income after taxes jumped to $16.4 billion in first-half 2012 from $4.8 billion in first-half 2011, with insurers’ overall profitability as measured by their annualized rate...
Insurance Institute Names 4 Car Models Top Safety Picks
Oct 4 2012 // The Dodge Dart, the model Chrysler is betting on becoming a top-selling small car, was among four new vehicles on the U.S. market to receive a top crash-test rating by an influential safety group on Wednesday. The 2013...
Health Plan Cost Rate Hikes Lower for Large Employers in 2012: Aon
Oct 3 2012 // In 2012, large U.S. companies and their employees saw the lowest health care premium rate increases in six years, according to an analysis by Aon Hewitt, the global human resources firm. The average health care premium...
Finaccord Analyzes Prof. Indemnity Insurance in Australia, Canada, So. Africa
Oct 3 2012 // New research, conducted by market research consultants Finaccord, reveals that “competition among underwriters of professional indemnity insurance in Australia and Canada is at least as strong as in Europe’s...
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...
