Latest USA Headlines

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

Benmosche Agrees to Stay As AIG Board Approves His $7 Million Pay

Nov 25 2009 // American International Group Inc., the insurer that received billions of dollars in a U.S. bailout, has been authorized by its board to pay Chief Executive Robert Benmosche’s $7 million compensation, after it laid to...

Stanford Sues Lloyd’s of London for Defense Fees Under D&O Policy

Nov 25 2009 // Allen Stanford, who faces U.S. criminal and civil charges for allegedly leading a $7 billion Ponzi scheme, is suing Lloyd’s of London for defense costs.Lloyd’s had advanced some legal fees under a directors and...

U.S. Finds Strong Link Between Chinese Drywall and Corrosion

Nov 24 2009 // Federal safety officials say they have discovered a strong link between drywall made in China and the home corrosion reported by thousands of U.S. property owners whose homes used the drywall.The results are from an indoor...

U.S. Senate Gears Up for First Key Healthcare Reform Vote

Nov 20 2009 // Democrats in the U.S. Senate geared up for a fierce battle over a new healthcare reform plan Thursday as Republicans condemned the bill’s price tag and tax hikes before the first crucial test vote Saturday.Senate...

Federal Judge Holds Corps Responsible in Katrina Flooding Case

Nov 19 2009 // A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ failure to properly maintain and operate the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet MRGO was a substantial cause for the flooding of part of the...

Chubb Encourages Chinese Firms to Adopt Risk Management Practices

Nov 18 2009 // Chubb Group recently co-hosted a seminar near Shanghai, which focused on the “increasing number of Chinese exports exposed to product liability claims and litigation in the United States and Europe.” As a...

Senator Boxer Sees no US Accord in Time for Copenhagen Conference

Nov 18 2009 // Senator Barbara Boxer Tuesday predicted that the United States will not reach a consensus on carbon emission reduction goals for 2020 in time for December’s international global warming summit in Copenhagen.Boxer,...

Insurance Associations Concerned on Financial Stability Improvement Act

Nov 18 2009 // In an open letter addressed to Barney Frank, the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Financial Services, the largest U.S. insurance trade associations expressed their concerns over the recently passed...

Senate Financial Regulation Bill Hikes Credit Rating Firms’ Liability

Nov 16 2009 // Credit rating agencies, accused of assigning top ratings to shoddy securities, would be exposed to greater liability under a wide-ranging financial services reform bill released by a leading U.S. senator. The draft bill...

Business Moves

Nov 15 2009 // TLLA, CrawfordClaims management provider Crawford & Company has acquired certain assets of Technical Loss Adjustment and Appraisal LLC (TLAA) of Chicago. The firm’s five experienced adjusters have joined...

It Figures

Nov 15 2009 // $1 BillionThe Army Corps of Engineers is launching a $1 billion project to protect the suburban West Bank of New Orleans from devastating floods. Some critics say the project may have the potential dangerous consequence of...

People

Nov 15 2009 // Arthur Seifert has joined Southwest Insurance Partners Inc. (SWIP) as chief executive officer of Houston-based Bunker Hill Insurance Agency (BHIA), SWIP’s wholly owned underwriting agency subsidiary.Seifert has been...

10 Things to Know About the Construction Industry Supply Chain

Nov 15 2009 // Construction activities affect nearly every aspect of the U.S. economy. Here are 10 things worth knowing about the construction industry:1. Contribution to GDP In 2008, the construction industry’s contribution to...

Climate Change Treaty and Doha Round Top International Agenda

Nov 15 2009 // Climate change and Doha Round agreements remain doubtful, as last minute efforts to construct a deal all parties can accept remain stymied by national priorities. Although negotiations have been continuing, it now seems as...

It Figures

Nov 15 2009 // 488%The jump in profits for the third quarter reported by Harleysville Group Inc. The insurer saw its third-quarter profits climb to $24.7 million, up from $4.2 million in the year-ago period. Revenue at the insurer rose...

Benmosche Denies He Might Leave AIG; ‘Totally Committed’ Says CEO

Nov 12 2009 // American International Group Chief Executive Robert Benmosche said on Wednesday he remains “totally committed” to staying at the company, countering an earlier report that he was considering stepping down.In a...

Senator Kerry, UN’s Ban Ki-moon Upbeat on Climate Bill Prospects

Nov 11 2009 // U.S. Senator John Kerry said Tuesday he will try to “outline” a compromise climate control bill before December’s international global warming conference and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gave an...

Supreme Court Justices Question Patents for Business Methods

Nov 10 2009 // U.S. Supreme Court Justices seemed reluctant to allow hedging methods to be patented as it heard arguments Monday that were closely watched by software, biotech firms and other industries.Some software and biotechnology...

Greenberg: Story Line Shifts to His Private Company, C.V. Starr

Nov 10 2009 // When Maurice “Hank” Greenberg has been in the news during the past five years, the story usually has been about American International Group (AIG), the company he built into an insurance conglomerate and headed...

Tropical Storm Ida Pounds Gulf States with High Winds, Heavy Rains

Nov 10 2009 // A weakening Tropical Storm Ida lashed the U.S. Gulf Coast with drenching rain and high surf Tuesday as it moved ashore after shutting down almost 30 percent of Gulf of Mexico energy production.Ida, once a Category 2...