Latest USA Headlines

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

Zurich Integrated Products Expands into Southeast, South Central U.S.

Feb 26 2009 // Zurich North America Commercial will begin accepting new business in 11 South Central and Southeastern states through its new Zurich Integrated Products unit, which services commercial customers in between the...

AIG’s Hopes for Sale of Asian Life Unit AIA Rest With 3 Bidders

Feb 25 2009 // Three potential bidders remain interested in the sale of a large stake in American International Group’s $20 billion Asian life insurance unit, people close to the matter said on Wednesday, as the auction heads into...

O’Sullivan Says Zurich Financial Sees Tougher 2009

Feb 25 2009 // Zurich Financial Services AG will find this year tougher than 2008, when profit fell 47 percent, a senior executive of the Swiss insurer said on Wednesday.Patrick O’Sullivan, vice chairman of the management board and...

U.S. Considering ‘Controlled Breakup’ of AIG To Keep It Afloat

Feb 25 2009 // American International Group and U.S. authorities are in advanced discussions over a radical restructuring that would split the insurer into at least three government-controlled divisions in an attempt to keep it afloat,...

AIG Seen Willing to Give Up Majority Control of Asia ‘Jewel’ AIA

Feb 24 2009 // American International Group Inc., facing massive losses and seeking fresh funds, may be willing to give up control of its prized Asian division, worth about $20 billion, said sources with direct knowledge of the...

One Quarter of Oklahoma Bridges Structurally Deficient

Feb 24 2009 // In 2004, a football-sized piece of concrete fell from a bridge and crashed through Yvonna Osborn’s windshield while she was driving home on Interstate 35 in Oklahoma.The 52-year-old Irving, Texas, mother of two died...

Berkshire Hathaway Dogged by Derivatives, Accounting Rules

Feb 23 2009 // Shares of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sank last Friday to their lowest level in 5-1/2 years amid concern the insurance and investment company could suffer big losses from bets on world stock markets and...

U.S. Treasury Declines Comment on Additional Funds for AIG, Citi

Feb 23 2009 // The U.S. Treasury Monday declined to comment on reports American International Group was seeking additional government funds and that Citigroup was in talks with the government that could lead to Uncle Sam holding as much...

AIG Reportedly Facing $60 Billion Loss; In Talks For More Government Aid

Feb 23 2009 // American International Group Inc., rescued twice last year by the U.S. government, is asking for more aid and bracing for a fourth-quarter loss of roughly $60 billion, a source familiar with the matter said. It would be...

Demographic Shift Offers Opportunity for Agents

Feb 22 2009 // Before the 21st century reaches the half-way mark, more than 50 percent of the population of the United States will be represented by a vast cultural mix of people considered to be “minorities,” according to...

Insurance Industry Starts to Pay Attention to Muslim American Market

Feb 22 2009 // While there are an estimated 130 entities selling takaful — cooperative insurance that is true to Shariah tenets of Islamic religious law — in foreign countries around the globe, the insurance industry has...

Lawsuit Seeks to Stop U.S. Bailout Because of AIG’s Takaful Sales

Feb 22 2009 // American International Group’s involvement with the Islamic insurance market at the same time it is taking government bailout funds has provoked the ire of a Christian rights group in the U.S.The Michigan-based...

USC Geographers Create U.S. ‘Death Map’ of Natural Event Fatalities

Feb 22 2009 // Hazard mortality is most prominent in the South, where most people are killed by severe weather, such as tornadoes.University of South Carolina geographers have produced a map of natural-hazard mortality that gives a...

Allstate, State Farm Dismissed from Case Charging Katrina Overbilling

Feb 20 2009 // A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of Allstate Corp. and State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. from a lawsuit accusing them of overbilling the U.S. government for flood damage in Louisiana related to the 2005 storm...

U.S. Regulator Sees Future Role for Mortgage Insurance Industry

Feb 20 2009 // The main regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Thursday said he sees a future for mortgage insurance companies that underwrite many loans for the two mortgage finance giants.“They’re very important,”...

St. Louis Asbestos Case Considered in Federal Court

Feb 19 2009 // A federal judge is considering whether to sanction the city of St. Louis for violating clean air laws when it demolished subdivision homes to make way for a new airport runway.U.S. District Judge Carol Jackson heard...

Max Capital Posts $94 Million Q4 Loss; $175 Million FY Loss

Feb 12 2009 // The Bermuda-based Max Capital Group reported a net loss for the three months ended December 31, 2008, of $94.1 million, or $1.67 per diluted share, compared to net income of $62.4 million, or $1.00 per diluted share, for...

Willis Fourth Quarter Net Income Falls 35% to $62 Million

Feb 12 2009 // Willis Group Holdings, the third largest global insurance broker, said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter net income fell about 35 percent, hurt by declines in foreign currency and integration costs from a recent...

S&P Lowers Kingsway’s Ratings to ‘B’; on CreditWatch/Negative

Feb 11 2009 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its long-term counterparty credit and senior unsecured debt ratings on Toronto-based specialty insurance provider Kingsway Financial Services Inc. S&P also...

Report: AIG in Talks to Sell Auto Insurance Unit to Zurich

Feb 11 2009 // American International Group is in advanced talks to sell its U.S. auto insurance unit to Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services AG, a source familiar with the matter said Tuesday.The auto insurance business is expected...