Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
SEC, Citgroup May Win Appeal in Mortgage Fraud Case
Mar 16 2012 // A federal appeals court stopped just short of throwing out a judge’s controversial rejection of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s $285 million fraud settlement with Citigroup Inc over mortgage...
Millions in U.S. at Risk from Rising Sea Levels: Report
Mar 15 2012 // Sea level rise due to global warming has doubled the annual risk of coastal flooding of historic proportions across widespread areas of the United States, according to a report from the non-profit research group Climate...
Whistleblowers Reaping Rewards in U.S. Mortgage Suits
Mar 15 2012 // Troubled homeowners are not the only ones set to get a financial lift from the U.S. government’s $25 billion landmark mortgage settlement. Whistleblowers who were instrumental in revealing epidemic mortgage abuses,...
Departing Goldman Sachs Banker Slams ‘Rip-Off’ Culture
Mar 15 2012 // Goldman Sachs faced an unprecedented assault from one of its own on Wednesday after a banker published a withering resignation letter in the New York Times, calling the Wall Street titan a “toxic” place where...
Securities Fraud Settlements in 2011 Were Lowest in Decade
Mar 14 2012 // Angry investors are seeing far fewer financial benefits from lawsuits accusing corporate America of securities fraud, but may be on the cusp of a turnaround. The number and size of securities fraud settlements that won...
Update: Insurance Wholesaler AmWINS Is Recapitalizing: CEO DeCarlo
Mar 13 2012 // The owners of AmWINS Group Inc., the largest wholesale insurance broker in the United States by premiums placed, have put the company up for sale, expecting a valuation of about $1.5 billion, three people familiar with the...
Hiscox Appoints Walter as U.S. CEO; Head as Chief Underwriting Officer
Mar 12 2012 // Hiscox made a number of changes to its U.S. Management Team, appointing a new CEO and chief underwriting officer for Hiscox USA. Ben Walter, current chief operating officer of Hiscox USA has been promoted to CEO effective...
ICA Declares Flood Zone Catastrophe; Economic Losses May Top $1.5 Billion
Mar 12 2012 // The Insurance Council of Australia has declared widespread areas of New South Wales and Victoria a formal catastrophe zone. The ICA said the declaration covers the NSW Riverina, NSW Central West and northern Victoria,...
U.S. to Seek Court Approval for $25 Billion Mortgage Deal with Big Banks
Mar 11 2012 // A previously announced $25 billion settlement between five major banks accused of abusive mortgage practices and government officials will be filed in federal court on Monday, people familiar with the matter said late...
Captives Bring Premium Dollars and Jobs to Missouri
Mar 9 2012 // When it comes to the captive insurance industry, slow and steady growth is just fine with the state of Missouri. But it’s not like the state is reluctant to encourage captives to form or relocate there. Far from...
BP Settlement Relieves Feinberg of Duties; New Claims Process to Start
Mar 8 2012 // The man who has paid out billions of dollars to victims of the massive 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been formally relieved of his duties, and a federal judge has set up a new process to let more people and businesses...
La Nina to Fade But South Should Expect Dry Conditions
Mar 8 2012 // The La Nina weather pattern blamed for a devastating drought in Texas and a bad dry spell in South America should be gone by the end of April, but its impact will persist in large swathes of the southern United States...
U.S. to Sell $6 Billion in AIG Stock; AIG to Pay More to Taxpayers
Mar 7 2012 // The U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday it will sell $6 billion worth of American International Group stock and struck another deal for the insurer to pay down $8.5 billion more in obligations, taking a major step...
Whistleblower Says BofA Defrauded Home Loan Remodification Program
Mar 7 2012 // Bank of America NA prevented homeowners from receiving mortgage-loan modifications under a federal program in order to avoid millions of dollars in losses while benefiting from financial incentives for participating in the...
SEC Weighs Exempting Insurance Companies from Volcker Rule
Mar 7 2012 // The top U.S. securities regulator said on Tuesday her agency is exploring whether insurance companies can qualify for a coveted exemption in the proposed Volcker rule that would protect them from having to scale back their...
HSBC Sells General Insurance Business to AXA, QBE for $914 Million
Mar 7 2012 // HSBC has agreed to sell its general insurance businesses to French insurer AXA Group and Australia’s QBE Insurance Group for $914 million in cash, as Europe’s biggest bank moves ahead with its plan to divest...
Supreme Court Weighs If Firms Can Be Sued Over Human Rights Abuses Abroad
Mar 6 2012 // The U.S. Supreme Court said on Monday it would hear arguments next term on whether an 18th century U.S. law can be used to sue multinational corporations or others in American courts for alleged human rights abuses...
Appeals Court Upholds Corps’ Liability in Katrina Flood Ruling
Mar 5 2012 // A federal appeals court has upheld a judge’s landmark ruling that the Army Corps of Engineers is liable for property owners’ claims, agreeing the shoddy work on a shipping channel caused billions of dollars in...
Shell Files Pre-Emptive Offshore Drilling Lawsuit
Mar 5 2012 // Shell Oil Co. is taking the offensive against environmental groups that have put legal roadblocks in the company’s path to offshore drilling in the Arctic Ocean. The Houston-based company on Wednesday sued 11 Alaska...
Court Blocks Drug Enforcement Against Florida’s Cardinal Health, CVS
Mar 5 2012 // A U.S. appeals court has agreed to temporarily allow Cardinal Health Inc. to continue distributing strictly-controlled prescription drugs from a Florida facility, blocking a Drug Enforcement Administration order to suspend...
