Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
People
Feb 6 2012 // Marsh & McLennan Companies has appointed AIG executive Julio Portalatin as CEO of Mercer, MMC’s human resource consulting unit. Portalatin succeeds M. Michele Burns who left the firm last October. Portalatin...
Nonprofits Show Job Growth Despite Decade of Turmoil
Feb 6 2012 // Defying two recessions, the nonprofit sector posted a remarkable 10-year record of job growth, achieving an average annual growth rate of 2.1 percent from 2000 to 2010, while for-profit jobs declined by an average of minus...
Business Moves
Feb 6 2012 // IMAC, Specialty Service Solutions Randolph, Mass.-based International Marketing and Administration Co. (IMAC) purchased Specialty Service Solutions LLC, an insurance brokerage headquartered in Chicago. Specialty Service...
Whistleblower Law Does Not Protect Mutual Fund Employees: Court
Feb 5 2012 // A U.S. law protecting whistleblowers at publicly traded companies does not cover employees of mutual funds, a federal appeals court ruled on Friday in a case involving two former Fidelity Investments employees. The U.S....
Judge Certifies Investor Class Action Against Goldman Sachs
Feb 3 2012 // Goldman Sachs Group Inc. was ordered by a federal judge to face a securities class-action lawsuit accusing it of defrauding investors about a 2006 offering of securities backed by risky mortgage loans from a now-defunct...
Aon Expands U.S. Tenant Rent Default Offerings
Feb 3 2012 // Aon has expanded availability to new states for its Aon Rent Protect product that reimburses landlords for lost income when tenants default on rent payments. The product was initially launched in California, Colorado,...
Family of Slain Border From Arizona Agent Files $25M Claim
Feb 3 2012 // The family of a slain U.S. Border Patrol agent filed a $25 million wrongful death claim against the federal government on Wednesday. The 65-page document that’s a precursor to a lawsuit was filed in Phoenix and...
Coal Mines Becoming Safer But Some Still ‘Don’t Get It,’ Says U.S. Regulator
Feb 3 2012 // Coal operators across the country are changing the way they work, and mines are becoming safer, but the head of the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration said Thursday there are still too many who...
PIP Breast Implant Scandal Exposes Weaknesses in EU Safety Net
Feb 3 2012 // In June 2000, when American medical regulators posted a warning letter on the Internet about problems at a breast-implant maker in southern France, French authorities didn’t pay much attention. A U.S. Food and Drug...
Senate Bill on Iran Sanctions Targets Banks, Subsidiaries, Insurers
Feb 3 2012 // Banking transactions with Iran and financing for its oil shipments could come under tougher scrutiny after a bipartisan sanctions bill easily passed a key U.S. Senate Committee on Thursday. The Senate Banking Committee...
U.S. Supreme Court Refuses to Stop Louisiana Citizens Judgment
Feb 2 2012 // The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to stall payment of a $93 million judgment against Louisiana’s property insurer of last resort, a decision that could get money within six months to policyholders who won the...
Treasury Says More Time Needed to Complete FIO’s Modernization Report
Feb 2 2012 // The Treasury Department’s Federal Insurance Office was expected to complete and send its highly anticipated report on modernization of insurance regulation to Congress in January. But now, it looks like it may take a...
Kodak Employee Sues Company Directors Over Stock
Feb 2 2012 // An Eastman Kodak employee filed a civil lawsuit against Kodak’s board members and other fiduciaries of the photography companies’ retirement plans, saying they breached their duties as the company was spiraling...
Major Companies Keeping Cyber Attacks Secret from SEC, Investors: Report
Feb 2 2012 // At least a half-dozen major U.S. companies whose computers have been infiltrated by cyber criminals or international spies have not admitted to the incidents despite new guidance from securities regulators urging such...
Nuclear Accidents Pose Little Risk to U.S. Health, Say Regulators
Feb 2 2012 // The risk to public health from a severe nuclear power plant accident in the United States is “very small” because reactor operators should have time to prevent core damage and reduce the release of radioactive...
Judge Frees $100M in Louisiana Citizens’ Claims Dispute
Feb 1 2012 // The governing board of Louisiana’s property insurer of last resort held a special meeting on Jan. 31 to discuss how to deal with a judge’s order that lifted a freeze on more than $100 million at issue in a...
Halliburton Wins Ruling vs. BP Over Some Gulf Oil Spill Claims
Jan 31 2012 // A federal judge on Tuesday said Halliburton Co. is not liable for some pollution claims arising from the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, setting back BP Plc’s effort to hold other companies responsible for part of the...
Media Firms Could Face Insurance Hikes in 2012
Jan 31 2012 // U.S. communications, media, and technology (CMT) companies can expect their insurance market conditions to further deteriorate in 2012, continuing a trend that began in the second half of 2011, according to a report...
Florida Lawmaker Warns on Damages If Cuba Oil Drilling Spills
Jan 30 2012 // Since the United States couldn’t stop Repsol from drilling for oil off Cuba’s coast, it should make the Spanish oil giant pay dearly for damages from any spill that threatens neighboring Florida, a...
Consumer Group Charges Auto Insurers with ‘Disparate Treatment’ of Low Income Families
Jan 30 2012 // A consumer group on Monday issued a study that alleges “disparate treatment” of low-to moderate-income families by auto insurers nationwide. The group is asking state insurance commissioners to consider...
