Latest USA Headlines

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

Lloyd’s Comments on Florida Changing Reinsurance Collateral Rules

Dec 12 2007 // Lloyd’s Director & General Counsel Sean McGovern, called Florida’s decision to explore making changes in the collateral insurance requirements for foreign, or “alien,” reinsurers, such as...

Ratings Roundup: Bond Safeguard, Lexon, Gerling US

Dec 12 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has revised its outlook on Bond Safeguard Insurance Co. and Lexon Insurance Co. to negative from stable. S&P also affirmed its ‘BBB-‘ counterparty credit and...

Allied World to Buy Converium’s U.S. Reinsurance Operations

Dec 11 2007 // Bermuda-based Allied World Assurance Company Holdings, Ltd. announced that its U.S. holding company has entered into an agreement to purchase Converium Insurance (North America), Inc., a New Jersey domiciled...

Former La. State Agency Employee Pleads Guilty to Insurance Fraud

Dec 11 2007 // A former assistant manager of the New Iberia field office of the Louisiana Department of Motor Vehicles pled guilty to allegations of federal disaster relief fraud, according to the Louisiana State Police Insurance Fraud...

‘Most Secure Places to Live’ Are In Ore., Calif. and Wash.

Dec 11 2007 // Health, prosperity, safety and security are all desirable aspects when it comes to seeking a place to live, work or raise a family. According to the fourth annual Most Secure U.S. Places to Live rankings from Farmers...

Gore Calls on U.S., China to Act on CO2 in Nobel Prize Speech

Dec 11 2007 // Nobel Laureate Al Gore accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo Monday night Dec. 10 with a direct appeal to the U.S. and China to take action to curb greenhouse gas emissions, notably CO2.R. K. Pachauri, the Chairman...

Endurance Closes ARMtech Acquisition

Dec 10 2007 // Bermuda-based Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. announced the closing of the acquisition by Endurance US Holdings Corp. of ARMtech Insurance Services, Inc. and its affiliates (See IJ web site –...

Product Safety to be Discussed at China Talks, Vows U.S. Treasurer

Dec 7 2007 // Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said that U.S. worries about Chinese product safety will be a major topic at high-level economic talks with China next week.The so-called Strategic Economic Dialogue comes as the United...

Ratings Recap: AXA Corporate Solutions (US), First Marine, Magna

Dec 7 2007 // A.M. Best Co. has affirmed the financial strength rating (FSR) of ‘B++’ (Good) and the issuer credit ratings (ICR) of “bbb” of AXA Corporate Solutions Reinsurance Company (AXA CS Re) and its...

AXA Buys Ohio’s Matrix

Dec 6 2007 // AXA Corporate Solutions announced from Paris that it has acquired the consulting firm Matrix Risk Consultants Inc., based in Miamisburg, Ohio. It described the deal as part of a move to strengthen “its capacity to...

Coastal Flood Peril Study: $3 Trillion Today – $35 Trillion by 2070

Dec 6 2007 // An exhaustive study of the threat posed by coastal flooding warns that “as many as 150 million people in the world’s major cities could be reliant on flood defenses by 2070 – more than three times the 40...

U.S. Personal Lines Insurers Trying To Maintain Profits In Softening Market

Dec 4 2007 // U.S. personal lines insurance sector is at a critical juncture, according to an article published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. The article, which is titled “2008 U.S. Personal Lines Outlook: A...

16 Judges Step Aside From Scruggs Contempt Case

Dec 2 2007 // Every eligible federal judge in north Alabama has stepped aside from presiding in the criminal contempt case of Mississippi trial lawyer Richard Scruggs, who is accused of disobeying an order by failing to turn over...

From Insurance Consumer to Commissioner

Dec 2 2007 // While the position of California Insurance Commissioner is elected and there are already rumblings that he’d make a good gubernatorial candidate in 2010, current California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner says...

Framing the Issues

Dec 2 2007 // The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) represents 1,000 insurance companies that write about 40 percent of the business in the United States. They now have a new CEO and president. David Sampson comes...

Victims of 2005 BP Texas Plant Blast Concerned About Plea Deal

Nov 30 2007 // A judge allowed victims of BP PLC’s deadly 2005 plant explosion to pursue complaints about a plea agreement resulting from a federal investigation of the accident.Attorneys for the victims have argued that a $50...

British Bankers Plead Guilty to Wire Fraud in Enron Case

Nov 30 2007 // Three British bankers who were set to go to trial in Houston, Texas, for their roles in a fraudulent scheme with former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow changed their pleas to guilty.David Bermingham, Giles...

S&P: Softening Prices Should Start To Affect U.S. Commercial Lines Insurers

Nov 30 2007 // Another very profitable year for commercial lines insurers, sparked by yet another exceptionally mild hurricane season, is emerging for the entire U.S. property/casualty industry, says Standard & Poor’s Ratings...

Bermuda Insurance Association Says Companies Create U.S. Jobs

Nov 30 2007 // According to the Association of Bermuda Insurers and Reinsurers (ABIR), International insurance and reinsurance companies based on the island employ over 9,000 Americans and indirectly generate an estimated 95,045 jobs in...

U.S. Grand Jury Indicts “Dickie” Scruggs in Suspected Bribery Scheme

Nov 30 2007 // An attorney who helped negotiate a multibillion-dollar settlement against tobacco companies in the 1990s and has sued insurers over unpaid Hurricane Katrina claims was indicted in a suspected scheme to bribe a Mississippi...