Latest USA Headlines

All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Ratings Recap: Sirius (US), HDI-Gerling (US), Permanent General, Lexon/Bond Safeguard, Selective(NJ)

Oct 8 2012 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating of “a” of new York-based Sirius America Insurance Company, both with stable outlooks. Sirius...

Best Affirms OneBeacon and Subs Group Ratings; White Mountains

Oct 8 2012 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘A’ (Excellent) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “a” of OneBeacon Insurance Company and its six pooled and four reinsured...

Gulf States Pressure Obama Over BP Spill Settlement Funds

Oct 8 2012 // Senators from the U.S. Gulf Coast urged President Barack Obama on Friday to ensure that any legal settlement for the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill does not undermine a recently passed law that would funnel billions of...

Florida Justices Say Fair Court System Being Threatened

Oct 8 2012 // Three state Supreme Court justices being targeted by Republicans and other conservatives said Friday that such partisan and special interest attacks are threatening the independence and fairness of Florida’s judicial...

Louisiana Senator Blasts BP, Coast Guard Over Spill Cleanup

Oct 8 2012 // Louisiana’s Republican U.S. senator recently blasted oil giant BP PLC for what he called its attempt to run from its full cleanup responsibilities for the nation’s worst offshore spill, the 2010 disaster that...

Business Moves – East

Oct 8 2012 // USI, TD InsuranceUSI Insurance Services, a brokerage and financial services firm in Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., said on Sept. 24 that it has completed the acquisition of TD Insurance Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of TD Bank, N.A....

ANV Settles in as Lloyd’s MGA, as Capacity and Syndicates Grow

Oct 8 2012 // There are now 78 operating syndicates at Lloyd’s; 88, including Special Purpose and RITC syndicates. Although no new ones have so far joined Lloyd’s this year; three syndicates have transferred ownership:...

Will Regulatory Reform Trigger Doomsday for Captives?

Oct 8 2012 // If you’re startled by this headline, you’re not alone. Until recently, the words “reform” and “captive” were rarely used in the same sentence. That’s because captive insurance...

People – West

Oct 8 2012 // U.S. Risk Insurance Group Inc. named Tim Troester vice president and branch manager for the newly formed Portland, Ore., branch of U.S. Risk Brokers Inc.Troester’s focus at U.S. Risk will be to develop relationships...

Studies: More Than 2 M California Homes Exposed To Wildfires; Hundreds of Thousands in West at ‘Very High Risk’

Oct 8 2012 // More than 2 million homes in California face “extreme wildfire hazards,” over 400,000 of which are in Los Angeles County, according to a study from an insurance industry group.A separate study shows at least...

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 Chairman...

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...