Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Japan: Risk and Rewards
Aug 21 2008 // In Japan, agencies write 93 percent of P/C insurance. The Japanese property and casualty insurance market is ripe for opportunities, but there also are significant risks in the country, according to Keiji Fukasawa of...
Mid-Year 2008: Securities Lawsuit Filings Remain Up
Aug 21 2008 // The continued steady subprime and credit crisis-related lawsuit filing level suggests that the litigation wave will continue during the second half of 2008. Is litigation stemming from the subprime- and credit...
People
Aug 21 2008 // W.R. Berkley Corp. named William M. Rohde Jr. president of Acadia Insurance Co., succeeding Bill Thornton, who now is chairman of Berkley Regional Specialty Insurance Co. Walter E. Stradley remains president of Berkley...
Nevada Countersignature Law Officially Null and Void
Aug 21 2008 // protectionist requirement that served only the self interests of small protectionist agents. The battle to defeat countersignature laws is finally over, now that the July 9, 2008, deadline has passed for Nevada to file a...
By Charles E. Boyle
Aug 21 2008 // From Novelty to Necessity: Bermuda’s Insurance Market 2008 Bermuda’s insurance industry has grown steadily since it began 50 years ago. It is now a mature market, and, in certain sectors – natural...
House Subcommittee Moves Key Federal Insurance Regulation Bills
Aug 21 2008 // By Andrea Wells In a busy month for insurance issues on Capitol Hill, the U.S. House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises marked up bills creating a federal...
Soft Market Hammers Commercial Carriers’ Stocks; M&As Active in Personal Lines Sector
Aug 21 2008 // Stock Prices: The soft market continues to have an effect on insurers’ stock prices. With the inability of insurers to grow in the current market, commercial insurers’ stocks are still falling, down 18 percent...
Ratings Roundup: Catlin (US), R.V.I., Companion, AmTrust
Aug 19 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘A-‘ long-term counterparty credit and insurer financial strength ratings to Catlin Speciality Insurance Co. (CSCI) and Catlin Insurance Co. Inc....
U.S. Doctors Say Lawsuits Help Guarantee Drug Safety
Aug 18 2008 // Top doctors who run one of the most influential U.S. medical journals are giving the U.S. Supreme Court some unsolicited legal advice about a major case. Lawsuits can serve as “a vital deterrent” and protect...
U.S. Insurers’ Exposure to Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac Manageable
Aug 18 2008 // The U.S. insurance industry’s exposure to securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that aid liquidity in the mortgage market, is substantial for a handful of...
‘Dramatic’ WTO Farm Deal Close If Talks ‘Can Be Revived’
Aug 14 2008 // A world trade deal that dramatically opens livestock markets in the European Union, Canada and Japan is within grasp, if talks that collapsed last month in Geneva can be revived. U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab...
PMI Group to Sell Australian Operations to QBE
Aug 14 2008 // The California-based PMI Group announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Australian mortgage insurance subsidiary and related Australian holding company to QBE Insurance Group Limited,...
S&P: ING Ratings, Outlook ‘Unchanged’ by Q2 Profit Decline
Aug 14 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced that its ratings and outlooks on ING Groep N.V. (currently ‘AA-‘ – Stable – ‘A-1+’) and related entities are unchanged following...
Texas-based American National to Challenge Utah Jury Verdict
Aug 14 2008 // Galveston, Texas-based American National Insurance Company and its subsidiaries American National Property and Casualty Company and American National General Insurance Company plan to fight a jury verdict in a case related...
S&P: U.S. Commercial Lines Outlook Revised To Negative From Stable
Aug 14 2008 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services revised its outlook on the U.S. commercial lines property/casualty insurance sector to negative from stable. Standard & Poor’s credit analyst John Iten explained...
RMS Launches Winter, Convective Storm Models for U.S., Canada
Aug 14 2008 // Newark, Calif.-based Risk Management Solutions (RMS) launched new Winterstorm and Severe Convective Storm Models to enhance its suite of catastrophe risk models for the U.S. and Canada. Built to satisfy the needs of both...
Swiss Re Launches U.S. Agency Umbrella E&O Coverage
Aug 13 2008 // Swiss Re’s Commercial Insurance group has introduced Errors and Omissions (E&O) agency umbrella coverage in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. “The insurance policy offering was developed in...
Harris County D.A. Considers Criminal Charges Against Bus Owner
Aug 13 2008 // Criminal charges were being considered against a Houston motorcoach owner and president whose bus crashed in north Texas killing 17 Vietnamese Catholics on their way to a religious festival in Missouri, according to a...
Catlin Posts 21% Decline in First Half Net Income; GPW Top $2 Billion
Aug 11 2008 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group Limited posted mixed financial results for the first half of 2008. While gross written premiums were up four percent to $2.075 billion, net income before taxes for the period declined by 21...
Whittington Completes Sale of Americas Insurance to ISG Acquisition
Aug 11 2008 // The Singapore-based Whittington Group announced that it has completed the sale of Americas Insurance Company, its non-core US insurer in run-off, to ISG Acquisition II LLC, the specialist acquisition arm of Independent...
