Latest USA Headlines

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

New Zealand May Use Cat Bonds to Recapitalize Disaster Fund

Feb 24 2011 // New Zealand’s government may have to recapitalize its crucial national disaster safety fund after being hit by two major earthquakes in five months, analysts and insurers say.The government could decide to dip into...

Vivendi Wins Narrowing of $9 Billion U.S. Investor Lawsuit

Feb 23 2011 // Vivendi SA won a big court victory when a federal judge slashed potential damages in a $9.3 billion lawsuit accusing the French media company of misleading shareholders about its finances in connection with a giant merger...

New Zealand Quake Kills at Least 65; Race to Reach Trapped Victims

Feb 22 2011 // New Zealand rescue teams worked under search lights early Wednesday to find scores of people trapped under collapsed buildings after an earthquake struck the country’s second-biggest city of Christchurch, killing at...

Senate to Vote on Patent Damages Reform After Break

Feb 22 2011 // The U.S. Senate aims to begin consideration next month of a bipartisan bill to revamp the U.S. patent system and reduce the likelihood of what critics see as excessive damage awards, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid...

Demand for Agricultural Insurance Coverages Expected to Grow

Feb 21 2011 // Increasing world demand for food is driving up commodity prices for corn, soybeans, wheat and other food staples. At the same time, the U.S. farming economy is strong, the federal crop insurance program is being changed,...

Insurance Industry Challenged by Unexpected Weather

Feb 21 2011 // It’s a tough time to be in the $500 billion U.S. property insurance business. Storms are happening in places they never happened before, at intensities they have never reached before and at times of year when they...

Declarations

Feb 21 2011 // Significant Flooding Likely “It appears likely we’ll get moderate to major levels of flooding on the Mississippi.” — Mark Fuchs, a hydrologist for the National Weather Service, said towns along the...

People

Feb 21 2011 // Lloyd’s of London has appointed Rodney Smith to serve as the regional director for Lloyd’s newly established Southeast region. Smith will be based in Atlanta, Georgia and be responsible for market development...

Declarations

Feb 21 2011 // An Incremental Approach“We have been working on lawsuit reform for years, taking mostly an incremental approach.” —Oklahoma Sen. Anthony Sykes, R-Moore, chairman of the state Senate Judiciary Committee. The...

People

Feb 21 2011 // New Jersey-based broker The McIntyre Group has named Mark D. Purfield as a marketing executive responsible for business development. Previously, Purfield was vice president of Wells Fargo Insurance Services in Westmont,...

Major Flooding Expected in North Central U.S.

Feb 18 2011 // A large swath of the country is at risk of moderate to major flooding this spring, from northeastern Montana through western Wisconsin following the Mississippi River south to St. Louis, National Weather Service flood...

Philadelphia Suit Alleges U.S. Catholic Leaders Failed to Protect Kids

Feb 18 2011 // A civil lawsuit filed this week against the Archdiocese of Philadelphia by a man who said two priests had sexually abused him as a child may signal a new era in church-abuse litigation in Pennsylvania.The Roman Catholic...

Regulators Warn Against Defunding Dodd-Frank Implementation

Feb 18 2011 // Republicans escalated their push to delay and defund the Dodd-Frank Wall Street reforms on Thursday as top regulators warned the U.S. Senate Banking Committee of a staff and funding crunch.The chiefs of major agencies that...

SCOR Sells U.S. Fixed Annuity Business

Feb 17 2011 // French reinsurer SCOR Group announced that it is “disposing of its US Fixed Annuity business through the sale of its subsidiary Investors Insurance Corporation (IIC) for $55 million.” The entire share capital...

Study Warns Rising Seas Could Threaten 180 U.S. Cities by 2100

Feb 17 2011 // Rising seas spurred by climate change could threaten 180 U.S. coastal cities by 2100, a new study says, with Miami, New Orleans and Virginia Beach among those most severely affected.Previous studies have looked at where...

Allstate Sues JPMorgan Over Mortgage Securities Losses

Feb 17 2011 // Allstate Corp. sued JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Wednesday to recover losses after the bank allegedly misrepresented the risks on more than $757 million of mortgage securities the insurer bought.The lawsuit against the...

Minnesota Commissioner Appoints 4 to Leadership Team

Feb 15 2011 // Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman has announced the newest members of his leadership team. Rothman tapped attorney and experienced manager Steve Carlson to serve as Deputy Commissioner of Administration. Kevin...

Catlin US Names Ensign to Reinsurance Post

Feb 15 2011 // Atlanta-based Catlin US has appointed Steven Ensign as director of the Direct Property Facultative Department for its reinsurance operations in Hartford. Ensign has been with the Catlin Group and predecessor companies...

New Business Court Judge Rattles Lawyers in Shareholder Suits

Feb 15 2011 // Lawyers involved in corporate litigation understandably might want to avoid the newest judge on one of the top U.S. business courts.The judge, Vice Chancellor Travis Laster, has brought some unusual tactics to the bench at...

Louisiana Presses BP for Oyster Money

Feb 11 2011 // Louisiana’s congressional delegation is asking BP to help Louisiana’s oyster industry immediately.In November, Louisiana asked BP PLC to give it $15 million so the state could start repairing oyster beds...