Latest USA Headlines

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

Hurricane, Investment Losses Cut Into Chubb’s Q3 Profit

Oct 24 2008 // Like many of its property/casualty competitors, Chubb Corp. saw its third quarter profit cut by investment losses and Hurricane Ike but the New Jersey-based insurer still emerged with $264 million in net income, $300...

Marsh Forms Agency to Serve Small U.S. Businesses

Oct 24 2008 // Large insurance broker Marsh has formed Marsh & McLennan Agency LLC, a new business dedicated to serving the insurance needs of small and emerging growth U.S. companies.The agency will conduct its business separately...

RMS Estimates Ike Insured Losses Now in $13B to $21B Range

Oct 24 2008 // California-based Risk Management Solutions (RMS) updated its estimate for U.S. onshore and offshore insured losses from Hurricane Ike to $13 billion to $21 billion, of which $10 billion to – $15 billion is estimated...

Lawmakers Blast Rating Agencies for Role in Financial Crisis

Oct 23 2008 // The top executive of Moody’s warned his board in 2007 that the quality of credit ratings was in danger due to trends that could “place the entire financial system at risk.”The confidential briefing was...

Jury Convicts Louisiana Woman in Money Laundering Scheme

Oct 23 2008 // A federal jury has convicted a woman of conspiring with a former Louisiana lawmaker to conceal her illegal operation of an insurance business by laundering money.Prosecutors contend Gwendolyn Moyo sold bogus construction...

Louisiana Money Laundering Case Deliberations Resume

Oct 22 2008 // A jury of six men and six women in New Orleans resumed deliberations Oct. 21 in the money laundering trial of Gwendolyn Moyo related to the alleged operation of an illegal insurance company.Moyo, 53, is accused of 41...

Survey: U.S. Firms Prepare for Rise in Litigation After Two Years of Declines

Oct 21 2008 // Following two straight years of reporting declines in the number of new lawsuits and regulatory proceedings — including a drop in large-dollar cases — U.S. companies now anticipate an uptick in new actions and...

Willis Report: California May See Less Shaking in Earthquake

Oct 21 2008 // Willis Group Holdings, a global insurance broker, has released a report summarizing recent changes in the scientific view of seismic hazard in the United States. The report has been added to the curriculum of the Associate...

Lawmaker Wants Details on How AIG is Spending U.S. Loan

Oct 20 2008 // A top U.S. lawmaker has asked the chief executive of American International Group for details on how the company has used its $123 billion of taxpayer rescue funding so far.Rep. Henry Waxman, chairman of the U.S. House...

Reputational Risk: Is It Time for Bankers to Risk an Apology?

Oct 20 2008 // No-one expects a fallen Master of the Universe to say sorry. But academics say an apology — for all the litigation risk it entails — can be the basis of revitalised confidence and trust.With global markets...

Hurricanes, Credit Crunch Hit Louisiana, Texas Agriculture

Oct 20 2008 // Like farmers and ranchers across the United States, agriculture producers in Texas and Louisiana have been impacted by rising fuel and fertilizer costs, and they fear the credit squeeze gripping the nation will make it...

From Seed to Supermarket

Oct 20 2008 // Agribusiness insurance has grown significantly as food production has become a global commodity. Since World War II there has been a dramatic reduction in the number of family farms and acreage being cultivated for food...

Financial Crisis Dominates European Risk Manager Debates, Conference

Oct 20 2008 // One of Pat Oliphant’s more recent editorial cartoons shows presidential candidate John McCain held in the trunk of an enraged elephant labeled “The Economy.” “My friends,” says McCain to a...

Catlin Issues Ike/Gustav and Investment Loss Estimates

Oct 17 2008 // The Bermuda-based Catlin Group Limited has announced its initial estimate of the financial impact of Hurricanes Ike and Gustav and an update on its investment performance and trading conditions.The Group said its...

India’s Tata Sons Eyes Stake in AIG Asia Unit, Sources Say

Oct 17 2008 // India’s Tata Sons has been in talks to buy a stake in AIA, a major Asian unit of American International Group, sources close to the matter said.The U.S. insurance giant has been seeking to sell assets after nearly...

Drug Manufacturer Pfizer to Pay $894 Million to Settle Lawsuits

Oct 17 2008 // Pfizer Inc said Friday it plans to pay $894 million to settle lawsuits alleging that its withdrawn Bextra painkiller and widely used Celebrex arthritis drug harmed U.S. patients and defrauded consumers.Pfizer said the...

S&P Article Finds Global Insurers Weathering Credit Turmoil – So Far

Oct 16 2008 // In a newly published article – Global Insurers Weather The Credit Turmoil–Thus Far – Standard & Poor’s credit analysts have concluded that “many of the largest insurers around the world...

Fitch: Insurers Face Mounting Pressure on Ratings Worldwide

Oct 16 2008 // Balance sheet pressures for insurance and reinsurance companies globally have become more severe as insurers experience greater unrealized market value losses, and take impairments, on their investment portfolios, says...

Top U.S. Lawmaker, Ex-SEC Chief Blast Lax Regulators

Oct 16 2008 // The Securities and Exchange Commission should get more power to police credit derivatives even though it failed to use its existing authority to rein in risky behavior that contributed to a global financial crisis, a...

House Leader Frank Vows to Regulate Credit Default Swap Market

Oct 14 2008 // The head of a U.S. congressional finance panel said Monday he would seek to regulate the fast-growing $55 trillion credit default swaps market, which has been blamed for exacerbating the financial meltdown.Rep. Barney...