Latest USA Headlines

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

Lehman Failure Seen as Straw that Broke Credit Market, AIG

Oct 13 2008 // As finance chiefs gathered in Washington D.C. this weekend to work out what went wrong with the world economy, the refusal of the U.S. Treasury to rescue investment bank Lehman Brothers was being blamed as the straw that...

Insurers See Lower 3Q Income, S&P Revises Life Insurer Outlook

Oct 10 2008 // U.S. life insurers Lincoln National Corp. and ACE Ltd reassured investors that they have enough capital, but credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s cut its outlook for the industry on Friday.The Progressive...

Aegon, Aviva Bolster Risk Hedges, EU Insurers’ Shares Rise

Oct 9 2008 // European insurance shares rose sharply on Thursday, as Dutch insurer Aegon announced steps to boost capital and reduce risk, while British peer Aviva Plc bolstered its hedges against slumping stock markets.Aegon, which has...

Citi, Wells Fargo Extend Cease-Fire Over Wachovia Deal

Oct 9 2008 // Citigroup Inc. and Wells Fargo & Co. agreed to extend their legal standstill for two more days as they scrambled to come to a deal that could see them divvy up troubled regional lender Wachovia Corp.Citigroup, Wells...

US Credit Crisis Threatens New Orleans’ Recovery

Oct 9 2008 // A prolonged recession and a tight credit market would cripple New Orleans’ still-fragile recovery from Hurricane Katrina, delaying or eliminating road work, new construction and repairs to homes and businesses that...

Former AIG Executives Draw Fire from U.S. Lawmakers

Oct 8 2008 // Lawmakers criticized American International Group Inc. Tuesday for ignoring financial warnings and for executive compensation deals and lavish spending, including a company gathering at an expensive resort just days after...

Ironshore Specialty Insurance Becomes Surplus Lines Insurer in California

Oct 6 2008 // The California Department of Insurance has added Ironshore Specialty Insurance Co. (ISIC) to its List of Eligible Surplus Lines Insurers (LESLI listing). ISIC will provide specialty commercial insurance coverages on an...

More to Come in Busy Atlantic Hurricane Season

Oct 6 2008 // The 10 tropical storms and hurricanes that ripped through the Atlantic and Caribbean during this busy hurricane season savaged Haiti, Cuba and the U.S. Gulf coast, and conditions are now ripe for more.Residents of the...

Crane Safety Guidelines Needed

Oct 6 2008 // In March 2008 a construction crane collapsed into a neighborhood bar and nearby apartments in New York City, killing seven people. In Bellevue, Wash., in June 2006, a large crane fell into an apartment building killing a...

Crane Safety Guidelines Needed

Oct 6 2008 // In March 2008 a construction crane collapsed into a neighborhood bar and nearby apartments in New York City, killing seven people. In Bellevue, Wash., in June 2006, a large crane fell into an apartment building killing a...

Crane Safety Guidelines Needed

Oct 6 2008 // In March 2008 a construction crane collapsed into a neighborhood bar and nearby apartments in New York City, killing seven people. In Bellevue, Wash., in June 2006, a large crane fell into an apartment building killing a...

Business Moves

Oct 6 2008 // Liberty Mutual, SafecoBoston-based Liberty Mutual Group finalized its acquisition of Seattle, Washington-based Safeco Corp. on Sept. 22 after entering the agreement in April. While improving its scale and geographic reach,...

More to Come in Busy Atlantic Hurricane Season

Oct 6 2008 // The 10 tropical storms and hurricanes that ripped through the Atlantic and Caribbean during this busy hurricane season savaged Haiti, Cuba and the U.S. Gulf coast, and conditions are now ripe for more.Residents of the...

Crane Safety Guidelines Needed

Oct 6 2008 // In March 2008 a construction crane collapsed into a neighborhood bar and nearby apartments in New York City, killing seven people. In Bellevue, Wash., in June 2006, a large crane fell into an apartment building killing a...

Crane Safety Guidelines Needed

Oct 6 2008 // In March 2008 a construction crane collapsed into a neighborhood bar and nearby apartments in New York City, killing seven people. In Bellevue, Wash., in June 2006, a large crane fell into an apartment building killing a...

U.S. P/C Insurers’ Net Income Falls More Than 50% in First Half 2008

Oct 6 2008 // The U.S. property/casualty industry’s net income after taxes fell more than 50 percent to $15.9 billion in the first half of 2008 on a combination of deteriorating underwriting results and declining investment...

To Tax or Not to Tax – Battling Coalitions Dispute Bermuda ‘Loophole’

Oct 6 2008 // Whatever goes around comes around, and in an election year it was almost inevitable that somebody would reintroduce legislation to “close the tax loophole” that they maintain offshore insurers enjoy at the...

AIG: Picking at the Pieces

Oct 6 2008 // For the moment, giant American International Group (AIG) lives on government life support, for which it’s paying 850 basis points (8.5 percent) over LIBOR, effectively 11.4 percent, on an $85 billion loan.“My...

Wells Fargo Agrees to Buy All Wachovia Operations; Citi Deal Off?

Oct 3 2008 // Wells Fargo & Co. said it agreed to buy Wachovia Corp. for about $15.1 billion, without U.S. government help, thwarting a planned Citigroup Inc deal that had been seen as big boost for both Citi and Wachovia.Wells...

Texas Law Firm Pleads Guilty to Role in Staged Accident Scheme

Oct 3 2008 // Trey Allen, P.C., a professional corporation, which was previously known as the Law Office of John H. Allen, III, P.C., pled guilty in federal court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul D. Stickney, to charges of conspiracy...