Latest USA Headlines

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

Best Affirms AIG, Domestic P/C and Life Subsidiaries Ratings

Dec 21 2010 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength ratings (FSR) and issuer credit ratings (ICR) of the property/casualty and life/health subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. as well as the ICR of...

S&P Rates Catlin Re ‘A’; Sees ‘Key Benefits’ from Swiss-based Subsidiary

Dec 21 2010 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has assigned its ‘A’ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings to Switzerland-based Catlin Re Switzerland (CRCH), a new insurance entity created as a...

$81M Punitive Damages in Massachusetts Cigarette Case

Dec 21 2010 // A tobacco company that had tried to hook black children on cigarettes was ordered to pay $81 million in punitive damages to the estate and son of a Boston woman who started smoking at age 13, in what an attorney said is...

U.S. Treasury’s AIG Fix-It Man Ready for Next Assignment

Dec 21 2010 // Jim Millstein is no stranger to troubled companies. With a long career as a bankruptcy lawyer and former head of Lazard Ltd’s restructuring practice, he’s done his share of turnarounds.But nothing prepared him...

Property, Violent Crimes Decline in U.S. in First Half 2010: FBI

Dec 20 2010 // The nation experienced a 6.2 percent decrease in the number of violent crimes and a 2.8 percent decline in the number of property crimes from January to June 2010. Arson, motor vehicle theft, larceny-theft fell and...

Florida Case Is Next Test for Health Care Law

Dec 20 2010 // Attorneys for 20 states fighting the new federal health care law told a judge last week it will expand the government’s powers in dangerous and unintended ways.The states want U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson to...

Fact or Fiction? Insurance Tidbits of Known and Little-Known Information

Dec 20 2010 // Have you ever wondered what big events helped shape regulation of the current U.S. insurance industry? Or if drivers of certain cars have more risk? What about the most attractive insurance job in the industry? These are...

People

Dec 20 2010 // Insurance broker Marsh appointed Peter Mavraganis as U.S. leader of its renewable energy practice. Mavraganis, based in New York, will oversee Marsh’s support for its clients in renewable energy development,...

Lessons Learned and Looking Ahead at Lloyd’s

Dec 20 2010 // December is often a time of reflection on what we’ve achieved, where we’ve stumbled and what lessons we will take forward into the New Year.When Lloyd’s published its three-year strategy earlier this...

Aon Benfield Releases Annual Cat Report; Insured Losses at $38 Billion

Dec 17 2010 // Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corporation, has released its Annual Global Climate and Catastrophe Report, which reviews the natural disaster perils that occurred worldwide...

Congress Sends Tax Deal to Obama for Signing

Dec 17 2010 // Congress gave final approval late Thursday to the deal President Barack Obama and Republicans made to extend expiring tax cuts — a high-stakes gamble to create jobs at a cost of deepening the U.S. debt.Over...

U.S. Financial Rescue Cheap Compared to Past Crises: Geithner

Dec 17 2010 // The price of corporate bailouts in 2008 and 2009 looks cheap compared to past crises, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday, while urging more drastic action from housing finance giants Fannie Mae and...

U.S. Sues BP, Well Owners, Driller, Insurer for Gulf Oil Spill Damages

Dec 16 2010 // The Obama administration Wednesday launched a legal battle against BP Plc and its partners by suing them for the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, which could cost the companies billions of dollars.The lawsuit...

Florida Citrus Growers Get Break After Bitter Cold

Dec 16 2010 // Florida’s citrus growers got a respite Thursday from the bitter cold that damaged oranges and groves in many areas Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.Paul Close of the U.S. National Weather Service in Ruskin,...

Senate Passes Tax Cut Plan, 81-19

Dec 15 2010 // A deal that President Barack Obama struck with Republicans to extend expiring tax cuts for nearly every working American and spur job growth sailed through the U.S. Senate Wednesday.The Senate passed the legislation in a...

Massachusetts Jury Orders Tobacco Firm to Pay $71 Million to Family

Dec 15 2010 // A jury Tuesday ordered U.S. cigarette maker Lorillard Inc. to pay damages to a dead smoker’s family for allegedly enticing the woman and other black children with free cigarettes given out decades ago.Evans vs...

WTO’s Lamy Tells Negotiators to Push for Doha Deal

Dec 15 2010 // Members of the World Trade Organization are showing new energy and determination to reach a global trade deal but must now abandon fixed positions to clinch the agreement, the head of the WTO said on Tuesday.WTO...

Senate Expected to Pass Tax Cuts; House Democrats Balk at Estate Tax

Dec 15 2010 // President Barack Obama’s sweeping plan to extend expiring tax cuts for millions of Americans headed for overwhelming passage in the U.S. Senate on Wednesday as it moved through Congress.While the Senate neared a rare...

Droughts, Floods, Snow and Cold Hit Global Commodities

Dec 15 2010 // Droughts and deluges in Australia, snow in Europe and cold snaps in the United States are pushing up prices of a range of commodities from sugar to heating oil and soybeans.Australia typically ranks as second in the league...

Allied World Reinsurance U.S. Launches Global Marine, Specialty Division

Dec 15 2010 // Allied World Reinsurance has launched a global Marine and Specialty Division that will initially offer reinsurance for marine, aviation, satellite and crop reinsurance on a global basis. Allied World Re U.S. has appointed...