Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
General Re, AIG Executives’ Convictions Tossed; New Trial Ordered
Aug 2 2011 // Four former executives at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s General Re Corp. unit and one at American International Group Inc. won the reversal of their convictions over a reinsurance transaction that prosecutors said...
How Debt Ceiling Politics Impact P/C Insurance Industry
Aug 1 2011 // As they watched Congress struggle to put a debt deal in place by Aug. 2, U.S. insurers worried about their companies’ portfolios, short- and long-term interest rates and a decline in equity markets. The leading...
U.S. Upgrades Safety Probe of Ford, Mercury Models
Aug 1 2011 // U.S. safety regulators have upgraded an investigation into consumer complaints that 2010 model year Ford Fusion and Mercury Milan cars may suffer from wheel stud fractures that could cause a wheel to come off. The...
Large Investors Sue Bank of America
Aug 1 2011 // Bank of America Corp. was sued by 15 former Countrywide Financial Corp. institutional investors who said they lost money after being misled about the mortgage lender’s financial condition and lending...
Bank of America Loses Bid to Dismiss Fraud Claims
Aug 1 2011 // Bank of America and two former executives lost a bid on Friday to dismiss securities fraud claims alleging they misled investors about the bank’s 2008 acquisition of Merrill Lynch & Co. U.S. District Court Judge...
Dodd-Frank Anniversary: What About Insurance?
Aug 1 2011 // The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act rewrote the landscape of the financial markets and it has permeated all sectors of the global economy. A year after the Dodd-Frank Act was signed, there...
The Future in Auto Claim Prevention
Aug 1 2011 // Vehicle Technology Tools, Red Light Cameras, Better Roads and More Give Way to Reduction in Claims There has been a reduction in auto insurance property damage and injury claims within the past 50 years through the...
Study: U.S. Metro Areas Most Able to Withstand a Disaster
Aug 1 2011 // Which U.S. metro region is most likely to come out of the next economic recession, natural disaster or other regional “shock” relatively unscathed? According to University at Buffalo researchers, Washington,...
People
Aug 1 2011 // Wholesaler Swett & Crawford has added Ricky Dawson to its casualty staff in New York. Dawson, who has a background in both insurance wholesale brokerage and underwriting, previously served as a wholesale broker with...
Audit Criticizes Administration of Defense Base Insurance Program
Jul 29 2011 // A recent governmental audit of the workers’ compensation insurance program for U.S. government contractors working on Afghanistan reconstruction is highly critical of the program’s administration by the U.S....
Fairfax Financial Profit Rises on Investments
Jul 29 2011 // Fairfax Financial Holdings, which took a 9 percent stake in Bank of Ireland earlier this week, said Thursday its quarterly profit rose from a year earlier due mainly to increases in its stock and bond portfolios. The...
Insurance Co. and Colorado Farmers Settle Fraud Claim
Jul 28 2011 // Two Colorado potato farmers and the Great American Insurance Company have agreed to settle a case in which they are accused of making false crop insurance claims for $131,000, the U.S. attorney in Denver, John Walsh,...
Michigan Group Seeks Supreme Court Review of Healthcare Law
Jul 28 2011 // A Michigan-based legal group Wednesday asked the Supreme Court to review and overturn a decision that found President Barack Obama’s signature healthcare law constitutional. In the first of several appeals likely to...
Zurich to Offer Accident Benefits for Overseas Federal Contract Workers
Jul 27 2011 // Zurich is now offering accident benefits to U.S. government contract workers who are employed overseas. Zurich’s new Defense Base Act (DBA) Accident Wraparound policy provides benefits for employees who are involved...
Lloyd’s America President Watkins Campaigns for Broader Appeal
Jul 27 2011 // Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd’s America Inc., smiles like he has a big secret he wants to spill. The history of Lloyd’s of London is no secret: originated in Edward Lloyd’s coffee shop in London;...
Death of the Treasury Benchmark: James Saft Commentary
Jul 26 2011 // A U.S. default or debt downgrade may set off market fireworks but the longer-term effects of the death of Treasury bonds as a universal benchmark of risk may ultimately be more significant. The U.S. appears to be slouching...
N.Y. Attorney General Challenges Constitutionality of Defense of Marriage Act
Jul 26 2011 // In papers filed in the case of Windsor v. United States, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman challenged the constitutionality of the federal Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”), which redefined marriage for...
Moody’s: U.S. P/C Insurers’ Report Meaningful 2010 Reserve Releases
Jul 26 2011 // U.S. property/casualty insurers reported meaningful reserve redundancies in their 2010 earnings, Moody’s Investors Service said, marking the sixth straight year in which the industry has posted a benefit to...
More U.S. Lawsuits Target Chinese Reverse Mergers
Jul 26 2011 // Accounting debacles at U.S.-listed Chinese companies have prompted a surge of securities fraud lawsuits, but investors might have trouble recouping their losses even if they win. More than one-fourth of the 94 U.S....
Best Gauges Potential Impact of U.S. Debt Ceiling Impasse on Insurers
Jul 25 2011 // “With the credit quality of the U.S. imperiled by the current impasse over raising the debt ceiling, insurance companies are facing increased overall risk on their balance sheets,” states A.M. Best. The company...
