WSJ(6/30)Property Insurers Confront Rising Catastrophe Losses
Bad weather has cost U.S. property insurers more than $5 billion so far in second-quarter catastrophe-related claims -- equal to about three-quarters of all catastrophe claims during 2007 -- and could push the industry to an underwriting loss. . .(Go to article...)
Court slashes judgment in Exxon Valdez disaster
WASHINGTON_The Supreme Court on Wednesday slashed the $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster to $500 million. The court ruled that victims of the worst oil spill in U.S. . .(Go to article...)
Calif. attorney general sues Countrywide Financial
LOS ANGELES_Countrywide Financial Corp. used misleading advertising and other unfair business practices to trick borrowers into taking on risky home loans they didn't fully understand, the California attorney general's office alleged in a lawsuit filed Wednesday. . .(Go to article...)
Milberg law firm says it will pay $75M to settle case
LOS ANGELES_The Milberg law firm said Monday it will pay $75 million to settle a federal kickback case involving class-action lawsuits against some of the nation's biggest corporations. The New York firm said in a prepared statement the deal called for the government to dismiss all charges against it. . .(Go to article...)
AIG's Capital Raising Prompts Another Round of Questions
Despite the contention of officials at American International Group Inc. to the contrary, their move to raise $11.9 billion in capital through the sale of common stock and equity-linked offerings, following the posting of a substantial first-quarter loss, is being viewed as a sign of continuing problems at the company. . .(Go to article...)
Judge: Countrywide shareholders' suit can proceed
LOS ANGELES_A federal judge has ruled that a shareholder lawsuit against Countrywide Financial Corp. executives and directors should go to trial, rejecting several arguments by the troubled mortgage lender to dismiss the case. . .
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Hackers pose constant threat to online world
Health providers may be an increasingly attractive target for well-organised identity thieves, reports Fran Foo. RSA company chief Art Coviello believes online criminals are hatching plans to attack healthcare providers as opportunities in the financial services sector, especially banks, dry up. . .
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FASB on Subprime: "We Warned You"
The chairman of the accounting standards board notes that his staff sent up a warning flare about subprime mortgages in 2005. If only the financial world had paid more attention to FSP SOP 94-6-1, there might not have been a subprime mortgage crisis. . .
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Cat Modeler: Myanmar's Cyclone Disaster Is a Wake-Up Call for Global Insurance Industry
Cyclone Nargis, which hit Myanmar--also known as Burma--on May 3, should be taken as a wake-up call to the global insurance industry, as companies extend their portfolios outside areas where the understanding of risks and their quantification is well-established, according to Domenico del Re, senior model manager at catastrophe modeler Risk Management Solutions. . .
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SEC Starts Distributing $800 Million AIG Settlement
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will begin disbursing more than $800 million in payments to eligible American International Group Inc. shareholders, a process it expects to complete by early 2009, in the final step of the global insurance giant's two-year-old settlement of a finite reinsurance investigation. . .
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Subprime Losses Continue to Drag Down Swiss Re's Profit
The subprime mortgage market continues to haunt Swiss Re, as the reinsurer reported a 53% fall in first-quarter profit. . .
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Liberty Mutual agrees to buy Safeco for $6.12 billion
BusinessWeek 4/23 — Liberty Mutual Group said Wednesday it has agreed to acquire publicly traded Safeco Corp. and take it private in an all-cash, $6.2 billion deal to create the nation's fifth-largest property and casualty insurer. . .
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The Council's Survey Shows Soft Market Even Softer in First Quarter 2008
The soft cycle for commercial property/casualty insurance got even softer in the first quarter of 2008, according to the latest Commercial Market Index Survey by The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, with three-fourths of the agents and brokers reporting that renewal premiums for their small and medium accounts were down 1-20 percent compared with fourth quarter 2007. . .
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Colorado State Forecasts 69% Chance of Major U.S. Hurricane in 2008
Colorado State University's hurricane forecasting team has upped its predictions for the 2008 Atlantic storm season, and now anticipates 15 named storms, eight hurricanes and four intense hurricanes to form during the season that kicks off June 1. . .
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Catastrophes cost industry $30bn last year says Munich Re
Munich Re has estimated that there were 960 natural catastrophes last year costing $82bn of which the insurance industry paid nearly $30bn-the largest annual number recorded by the reinsurer since it started analysis in 1974, reports Business Insurance. . .
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Retired but Not Forgotten
How much D&O coverage do former officers and directors need? Frank Borelli is concerned about his directors' and officers' liability coverage -- and that's saying something, since Borelli is a former CFO of insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos. . .
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Asbestos victims offered billions: W.R. Grace reaches deal to settle suits, clear bankruptcy
Apr. 8--W.R. Grace & Co. said yesterday that it has reached a deal that could be worth more than $3 billion to settle thousands of lawsuits by people who say they were sickened by exposure to the company's asbestos products. . .
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Subprime Suits Blur D&O Outlook
Directors' and officers' liability insurance coverage could cost more and be harder to come by, according to a policyholder attorney. . .
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Home Depot agrees to pay $14.5 million to settle lawsuits
Home Depot has said that it will pay $14.5 million to settle various lawsuits filed by shareholders since 2006 tied to stock option and compensation practices. . .
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Workers' comp for mental injuries narrowed to first responders
LINCOLN, Neb._State lawmakers have decided that first responders who suffer mental illness after witnessing a violent act should be eligible for workers' compensation benefits, but other employees should not. . .
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U.S. Tort Costs Down in 2006, According to Towers Perrin Study
Business Editors/Legal Writers STAMFORD, Conn.-- --December 12, 2007--U.S. tort costs totaled $247 billion in 2006, which is approximately $825 per person and $57 less per person than in 2005, according to the 2007 Update on U.S. . .
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Warning on 'new dimension of losses'
GLOBAL warming will bring larger and more frequent weather-related catastrophes and challenge insurers with a 'new dimension' of losses, industry experts have warned, writes Jerry Frank. . .
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WSJ(12/12) Credit Markets: A `Subprime' Gauge, In Many Ways?
When Swiss bank UBS AG wrote down its subprime-mortgage investments by an additional $10 billion this week, an obscure and sometimes maligned credit-market index played a key role. . .
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Threat of information theft grows for employees who work remotely
5-25-07 Business Journal - In as little as two pounds of convenient, compact and portable plastic and wiring lie chunks of private data, confidential corporate documents and personal information. . .
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Supreme Court Ruling May Open Gates For More Climate Change Legislation
CMS Cameron McKenna LLP Supreme Court Ruling May Open Gates For More Climate Change Legislation 24 April 2007 By Mr Paul Sheridan and Ms In a landmark decision, the US Supreme Court ruled recently that the US Environmental Protection Agency has the authority to regulate emissions of greenhouse gases from automobiles. . .
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Kerry Leading Senate Effort to Ease Sarbanes-Oxley Regs for Small Filers
WASHINGTON-A sometimes passionate Senate hearing on insurance regulation before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee is unlikely to be the last word on the subject, industry observers say. . .
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Large enterprises still serving up spam
Apr-18-07 - Well-known enterprise companies are still having their IT systems hijacked by spammers despite investing in many different types of technologies aimed at stopping the problem. . .
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Insurers cut firms' costs MARKETPLACE by Bloomberg
When Performance Technologies renewed its insurance policy protecting against shareholder lawsuits, the software company paid less than it did before Enrons collapse in 2001. . .
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Little reward likely in pet food lawsuits
Little reward likely in pet food lawsuits Associated Press ALBANY, N.Y. . .
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Insurers warned to prepare for worsening climate
FLASH floods and thunderstorms are likely to become more frequent and severe and insurers must be prepared for the additional risk, Lloyd's of London has warned. . .
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DJ Insurers Say They're Prepared For Active 2007 Storm Season
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Hurricane activity in the U.S. seems to be poised to increase this year after a quiet 2006, but insurers say they are set to deal with it, in part because they have used the past year to take stock and prepare. . .
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WHY BARS CALL BIG BOB: A former bartender on a mission to make local nightlife safer is helping clubs cope with new...
'Card me!" - It's a sleepy Saturday afternoon at the former Fahrenheit nightclub in downtown Minneapolis, and Robert Pomplun is trying to make an important point. . .
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E&Y to Pay $1.6M Audit-independence Fine
Big Four accounting firm allegedly helped AIG develop and market an accounting-driven financial product, then advised PNC on its accounting treatment. . .
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SEC, Accounting Board Mulling Easing of Sarbanes-Oxley Audit Rules
April 3 - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, the two federal entities that oversee Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, are now mulling changes to Sarbanes-Oxley that should ease the costs and burdens associated with the 2002 law. . .
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WSJ(4/2) AIG CEO Sullivan Guides Insurer Past Scandal
After two years of upheaval, American International Group Inc. finally seems to be stabilizing. In February 2005, the giant insurer disclosed it had received subpoenas regarding its accounting. A month later, Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg, the company's legendary leader, abruptly stepped down, leaving one of his proteges, Martin Sullivan, at the helm.. . .
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Congress Should Not Expand NFIP to Cover Wind, AIA Says
Congress should not expand the National Flood Insurance Program, nor should it establish catastrophe funds for natural disaster risks, the head of the American Insurance Association told the House Financial Services Committee. "Cat funds are no panacea for natural catastrophe risk, and such programs can encourage and. . .
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Oracle sues rival SAP, alleging 'corporate theft'
SAN FRANCISCO -- Oracle said Thursday that it's suing German software rival SAP AG in a California federal court, alleging "corporate theft on a grand scale." In a complaint filed Thursday in U.S. . .
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Number of Insurance Industry Mergers Up in US
Insurance industry mergers and acquisitions transactions in the US increased in 2006 to the highest level since 2001 and may foreshadow an acceleration of activity into 2007-2008, according to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting. . .
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Insurer State Farm agrees to multimillion settlement of Katrina lawsuits
NEW ORLEANS_State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. agreed to settle hundreds of lawsuits by policyholders and reopen thousands of other disputed claims, a deal potentially worth hundreds of millions of homeowners devastated by Hurricane Katrina, a company spokesman said. . .
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Plaintiff Named In Apple Shareholder Suit
January 23, 2007 A New York pension plan will be the lead plaintiff in a shareholder lawsuit filed against Apple for violating securities in its backdating scandal. The pension system manages $89 billion in retirement assets for 200,000 New York City municipal employees and holds around one million Apple shares. . .
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Viagra lawsuit looms over 'party drug' adverts
Pfizer's marketing campaign for Viagra has turned the impotence pill into a "party drug" whose use is fuelling the Aids epidemic, according to a campaign group that is suing the pharmaceuticals giant. . .
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Lawsuits follow in path of success
When Kenneth Griffin found himself facing a lawsuit filed last summer by a former business partner, the Chicago hedge-fund billionaire wasn't lacking for company. . .
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TechAssure Glimpses Past and Future of Insurance Industry
The challenges of the global marketplace require integrated insurance solutions. By visiting Lloyd’s of London, industry members studied the past in order to put today’s market in focus. “Our visit to Lloyd’s of London was a great experience that included a historical perspective of the insurance industry as well as how Lloyd’s is prepared to respond to current challenges such as major property catastrophes and their effect on the market. . .
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Democratic victory has advantages for industry
(11/17/06)LAST WEEK'S CONGRESSIONAL elections have created an entirely new environment for risk management and employee benefit issues. For at least the next two years, both houses of Congress will be under Democratic control while the executive branch remains in Republican hands. . .
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OneBeacon IPO raises $600M on NYSE
(11/09/06) OneBeacon Insurance Group Ltd. began selling its stock on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday, raising roughly $600 million via an initial public offering. . .
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Finite deals drop off in number as scrutiny increases
Heavy regulatory scrutiny of finite reinsurance products has hampered the popularity of such deals, but they won't disappear from the marketplace completely, industry experts and observers say. . .
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Midterm elections spell major change in ranks of state insurance regulators
The Democratic sweep of Congress has significant implications for state insurance regulators, says the Washington state insurance commissioner and onetime congressman. It creates a ``window of opportunity'' for state regulators to modernize regulatory procedures or face the ``specter'' of a federal insurance regulator. . .
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Defending Against Backdating Suits
Lawsuits related to options backdating are on the rise, and directors and officers should consider both defense and insurance strategies as investigations turn into restatements. . .
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Building up to code: insurers back stronger building codes to lessen catastrophe losses, but progress is slow in two...
Stronger building codes have made a big difference in hurricane losses in Florida, and efforts are being made to bring some of that success to Louisiana and Mississippi in the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita. . .
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Conspiracy theory used to expand DUI liability
Actions of conspiracy? SAN FRANCISCOIf an untested and novel legal theory succeeds, the wife and brother of a binge drinker with a string of drunken driving arrests could be held civilly liable for the death of a bicyclist because they supplied the car, insurance and alcohol to the driver. . .
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Average Insurance Premiums Hold Steady in Second Quarter
NEW YORK-- --Aug. 16, 2006-- Insurance Premiums Remain Flat or Decrease Slightly as Hurricane Regions Continue to Endure Increase in Property Insurance Premiums According to the RIMS Benchmark Survey , commercial insurance premiums were flat to slightly lower in the second quarter of this year compared to the prior year. . .
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Not buying reinsurance for Louisiana cost Allstate $2 billion
BATON ROUGE, La._Allstate Insurance Co. bought reinsurance to cover some of the cost of policies all along the East Coast last year, but not for Louisiana _ a gamble that cost it $2 billion in claims. . .
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Insurance in America: Time for a makeover
America should ditch its outdated system of insurance regulation LLOYD'S of London is hardly a stranger in America, where it has been underwriting risks for more than 150 years. . .
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A Prominent Law Firm Prepares for Indictment
For years, the securities class-action law firm of Milberg Weiss Bershad & Schulman sparked fear and uncertainty in executive suites and. . .
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Judge Dismisses Shareholder Suits on Vioxx
NEWARK, N.J._A federal judge has dismissed a group of shareholder lawsuits that charged Merck & Co. officers and directors with violating their duties by concealing the health risks of the company's Vioxx painkiller. . .
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WSJ(5/17) At AIG, A First Glance At `Good Governance'
DOES "GOOD governance" make good companies? . .
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Doctors order 40 percent of X-rays to cover against being sued
DOCTORS subject their patients to repeated and often unnecessary X-rays because of fears they will be sued for negligence. . .
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Mixed feelings on workers' comp
TWO YEARS after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed off on workers' compensation reform, there are still mixed reviews on who's benefiting. But not in the governor's mind. . .
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Enron prosecutor sums up: `outright lies'
Enron founder Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling , the company's former chief executive, instigated a massive fraud before the company collapsed in one of the biggest corporate scandals in U.S. . .
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Bond company disputes schools' recovery suit
The bonding company that insured the construction work at the Homosassa Elementary School's new additions claims that the school district did not follow critical notice requirements and therefore voided its chance of collecting on the bond when the project turned sour. . .
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WSJ(5/15) Harassment Law In U.S. Is Strict, Foreigners Find
By Joann S. Lublin A SEXUAL-HARASSMENT lawsuit against Toyota Motor Corp. and its former top North American executive is a stark reminder to foreigners doing business in the U.S.: American laws and customs relating to workplace sexual harassment are in many cases stricter than those abroad. . .
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Study: Four out of 10 malpractice cases are groundless
About 40 percent of the medical malpractice cases filed in the United States are groundless, according to a Harvard analysis of the hotly debated issue that pits trial lawyers against doctors, with lawmakers in the middle. . .
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Overstock cancels its share sale after SEC subpoena
Salt Lake-based Overstock.com Inc., an online seller of excess inventory, canceled a $16.8 million sale of its common stock a day after it received a subpoena from the U.S. . .
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WSJ(4/25) Enron's Outside Counsel Is Also In The Hot Seat
FORMER ENRON Corp. executives Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling are the ones being tried on criminal fraud charges in federal court in Houston, but the collapsed energy company's longtime outside legal counsel is also in the hot seat. . .
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Court Blocks Suit Claiming Investment Fraud
WASHINGTON (3/22) The Supreme Court made it harder Tuesday for investors to file class-action lawsuits claiming that companies misled them. . .
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WSJ(3/20) KPMG Aims To Cloak Details Of Client's Lawsuit
IN TRYING TO SETTLE a lawsuit brought against it by a former client, KPMG LLP has proposed terms aimed at preventing other clients from learning the auditor was sanctioned by a judge in the matter. . .
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US company denies takeover bid of Zurich financial
ST. PAUL, Minnesota, March 19, 2006 - The US insurance group St. Paul Travelers Companies denied rumors Sunday that it was seeking to takeover its rival Zurich Financial Services. . .
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WSJ(3/17)AIG 4Q Net Falls 72% On Storm Losses And Settlement
Saddled with the weight of two major charges -- one for a settlement with state and federal authorities and another for a steep increase to its reserves for losses -- as well as significant hurricane losses, American International Group Inc. reported that fourth-quarter profit fell 72% to $444 million. . .
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DJ Marsh & McLennan Faces New Bid-Rigging Lawsuit In Florida
CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--More than a year after it paid $850 million to settle a bid-rigging lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general, insurance broker Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. (MMC) is facing similar charges in a civil lawsuit filed by Florida's top lawmaker. . .
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Medical care in U.S. uniformly mediocre
The largest study of U.S. health care quality suggests that all Americans -- rich, poor, black, white -- get roughly equal medical treatment from doctors and nurses and it is mediocre for all: Patients receive proper care only 55 percent of the time. . .
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She audited and told
Mar. 1--TAMPA -- Cynthia Cooper, the executive who blew the whistle on fraud at WorldCom Inc., told a group of financial managers in Tampa on Tuesday about the moment her world changed nearly four years ago. . .
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WSJ(3/2) UPDATE: Skilling's Attorney Challenges Witness
HOUSTON -- Jeffrey Skilling's lead attorney repeatedly challenged the honesty and accuracy of a government witness who has provided some of the most potentially damaging testimony yet against the former Enron Corp. president, who is facing federal conspiracy and fraud charges here. . .
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WSJ(3/2) NY Probes Title Insurers Over Alleged Kickbacks
New York state authorities are in the late stages of an investigation of whether some of the nation's biggest title-insurance companies illegally paid secret rebates to some favored customers and referral fees to their agents, according to people briefed on the probe. . .
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Huge losses from 2005 hurricanes spur changes to cat modeling tools
TAMPA, Fla.-Catastrophe models that came under fire during last year's busy hurricane season actually performed better than many believe, a reinsurance intermediary contends. ``The models did not do as badly as you probably think they did,'' said John J. . .
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CFO.com (2/14) Record High for Class-Action Settlements
Even excluding WorldCom and Enron, the value of cases settled during 2005 totaled $3.5 billion. . .
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Thousands of homeowners may collect in title insurance settlement
DETROIT_More than 60,000 Michigan new-home buyers stand to collect $300 to $400 each under a tentative $27.5 million settlement reached between homeowners and title insurance companies.. . .
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$1.6B settlement doesn't end AIG woes
NEW YORK -- In agreeing to a $1.64 billion civil settlement with federal and state regulators, American International Group Inc. . .
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WSJ.COM/The Afternoon Report: RIM Shot
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Anxious BlackBerry users fearing a possible court-ordered shutdown in service in the U.S. were breathing a little easier Thursday, as Research in Motion (RIMM) announced it had created software that would bypass technology in dispute in a patent fight. The new software must still be tested, however, and RIM could still end up paying tons of cash to settle the patent dispute. . .
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Lloyd's abandons paperless system Five years on, and pounds 70m poorer, insurance market pulls plug on Kinnect
LLOYD'S of London's much-heralded paperless trading platform, which had aimed to help modernise the world's largest insurance market, has been shut down. Kinnect has cost Lloyd's pounds 70m over the past five years and had allowed brokers and underwriters to store information electronically instead of using paper files . . .
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WSJ(1/20) Bold Enron Defense: Company's Moves Were Legal
HOUSTON -- Four years of investigations and intense news coverage have made Enron a synonym for fraud and sleaze. But when the trial of former top executives Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay begins Jan. 30, defense lawyers will make a bold argument: Everything their company did was legal . . .
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Higher death benefits for miner upheld
The family of an underground coal miner killed in a rock fall is entitled to increased death benefits because the company he worked for had violated several mine safety laws, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday. Ronnie Charles was killed in 1999 while working for South Akers Mining Co . . .
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Securities Fraud Lawsuits and Investor Losses Drop Significantly in 2005, Finds New Study by Stanford Law School and...
BOSTON & PALO ALTO, Calif.-- (Jan. 3, 2006) A report released today by the Stanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse in cooperation with Cornerstone Research finds the number of securities fraud class actions filed in 2005 decreased more than 17 percent compared to 2004 levels, falling from 213 filings to 176 . . .
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Mandatory Arbitration on Trial
As mandatory arbitration clauses have proliferated in contracts between corporations and consumers in the past decade, so have charges that the arbitration system is unfair to consumers. . . .
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WSJ(12/28) Marking An Epic Year For Fallen CEOs
THE YEAR 2005 may go down in business history as something akin to 1989 in geopolitical history. That year, the fall of the Berlin Wall signaled the end of an order. This year, the fall of a string of powerful chief executives signaled the same . . .
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Katrina tops insured losses list as 2005 is costliest year (12/22)
HURRICANE Katrina has cost insurers and reinsurers more than twice the losses from the World Trade Center attacks of September 11, 2001 . . .
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WSJ(12/21) 2nd UPDATE: Nacchio Charged With Insider Trading
Former Qwest Communications International Inc. Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio was indicted on 42 federal insider-trading charges, following a three-year criminal investigation . . .
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S.E.C. Drops Case Against Software Executives (12/20)
In an unusual retreat, the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped a lawsuit against the former president and chief executive of the TenFold Corporation, a software developer that the commission has been investigating for more than five years . . .
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Natural disasters cause record losses for insurers in 2005: Swiss Re
GENEVA, Dec 20 - Natural disasters caused about 225 billion dollars in damage in 2005 making this year the costliest ever for insurers especially in the United States, the world's largest reinsurance company Swiss Re said on Tuesday . . .
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WSJ(10/18) 2nd UPDATE: US Indicts Ten More KPMG Execs
The government added 10 defendants to its indictment in the KPMG LLP tax-shelter investigation, including the Big Four accounting firm's former chief financial officer, bringing the number of people charged in the case to 19....
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Wilma Now Category 5 - Aimed at Florida
(Oct. 19) - Hurricane Wilma strengthened to a monstrous Category 5 hurricane early Wednesday with winds measured close to 200 miles per hour. Preliminary readings from an Air Force reconnaissance plane indicate that Wilma may be the most powerful storm ever recorded in the Atlantic basin, based on air pressure measurements....
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DJ Merck Discussed Reformulated Version Of Vioxx
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (Dow Jones)--Soon after Merck & Co. (MRK) said in 2000 that Vioxx was not the cause of heart attacks in a clinical study, the company discussed reformulating the painkiller with an aspirin-like drug....
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Reinsurer Raises $100 Million
Swiss reinsurer Glacier Reinsurance AG announced today that existing shareholders have subscribed for additional equity of $100 million, through its holding company Glacier Re Holdings s.C .r.l.. The company said the equity issue will increase underwriting capital in order to respond to favourable market conditions following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita....
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Massive Earthquake Devastates Pakistan
A huge earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter Scale hit Pakistan, India and Afghanistan on Saturday causing extensive damage over a widespread area. Death toll estimates ranged from 20,000 to 30,000. The epicenter was around 95 kilometers (60 miles) northeast of Islamabad....
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Contigent Commissions in the Insurance Industry - Is Eliot Spitzer Right? A New Look Says No.
Are Eliot Spitzer's Insurance Lawsuits Hitting the Wrong Targets? Wharton School of Business - On September 15, New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer indicted eight former executives from Marsh & McLennan Companies for their part in an alleged bid-rigging scheme involving insurance brokers who got insurance providers to submit inflated quotes...
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Big Marsh clients accept settlement fund
SAN FRANCISCO - Marsh & McLennan Cos. said Tuesday that most of its largest clients signed up to a compensation fund the insurance broker set up as part of its settlement with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer....
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Marsh Settles With 30 State Regulators in Commission, Bid-Rigging Probes
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Marsh & McLennan Cos. has taken another step toward clearing away the regulatory clouds that have hung over the company for more than a year, agreeing with 30 insurance regulators working through the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to a multistate settlement of inquiries into the company's bidding and ...
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Insurance rates may rise after Katrina
SAN FRANCISCO -- The huge financial hit that insurers and reinsurers face from Hurricane Katrina may halt a recent period of falling prices that's dogged the industry, analysts said on Tuesday. ...
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Insurers face ratings cut over Katrina bill
STANDARD & POOR'S has told ten insurers that they face credit-rating downgrades over their Hurricane Katrina losses, the biggest "creditwatch negative" note that the agency has issued since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
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Katrina Cost Estimates by Reinsurers Are Climbing
Gauging and absorbing risk may be what they do for a living, but even insurers seem taken aback by Hurricane Katrina. A handful of the world's leading reinsurers -- the companies that sell insurance to insurance companies -- suggested yesterday that the cost of settling claims would far surpass initial expectations
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WSJ(9/6) After Katrina, Insurance Costs To Rise
Home and car owners in the Gulf Coast states can expect to see substantial increases in their insurance premiums in coming months, while rate rises could spread more broadly if insurance-company losses from Hurricane Katrina continue to climb.
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Lloyd's can salvage something from the wreckage of Katrina
HURRICANE Katrina looks like to be the costliest catastrophe in insurance history and underwriters are already talking of a sustained boom in this notoriously cyclical market
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WSJ(9/6) CEO Says Allstate Adjusts Storm Plan
DAMAGE ESTIMATES for Hurricane Katrina have continued to mount, rising to more than $100 billion overall, with between $14 billion and $35 billion on the insurance industry's tab.
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(9/2) DJ Katrina Will Have Broad Impact On Consumers, Business
NEW YORK (AP)--From gas stations to grocery stores, farms to factories, the force of Hurricane Katrina is rippling through the economy, confronting consumers and businesses with higher prices and logistical dilemmas, even thousands of miles (kilometers) from the Gulf Coast.
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WSJ(8/12) Former Broker At Marsh Focus Of Grand-Jury Probe Brokers
A GRAND JURY impaneled by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is investigating whether William Gilman, a former top insurance broker at Marsh Inc., helped rig bids for corporate clients and steer business to insurers that paid the brokerage firm special commissions, according to four people familiar with the matter.
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Global Brokerage Firms Marsh and Aon Compete for More Than Just Clients
OLDWICK, N.J. - The battle for market share and leadership in the risk management and insurance brokerage business never has been more fierce.
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High Court Rules for Labor
CARSON CITY -- Employees injured while arriving or leaving their jobs may now qualify for workers' compensation benefits in some cases. In two cases Thursday, the Nevada Supreme Court modified the general "going and ...
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Sallie Mae Averts SEC Sanctions
Student loan giant Sallie Mae said it fired the chief financial officer of one of its collection subsidiaries, demoted another manager in the unit, and denied bonuses to the subsidiary's top managers for inflating revenue in an effort to reach performance goals for bonuses, in order to resolve an inquiry by the Securities and ...
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Brokers In Insurance Midtier Go On Spree
New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer may have an unexpected group of businesses thanking him for his investigation into shady dealings in the insurance industry: the smaller, regional or midtier brokerage firms that are finding they're now able to recruit experienced marketing and sales executives from the giant firms.
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WSJ(7/14) Ebbers Sentenced To 25 Years For WorldCom Fraud
Bernard J. Ebbers, the 63-year-old founder and former chief executive of WorldCom Inc., was sentenced to 25 years in prison for orchestrating the biggest corporate accounting fraud in U.S. history.
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Fiduciary insurance gains new attention
Xcel Energy Inc. in Minneapolis was glad it had an obscure type of insurance when it recently settled two class-action lawsuits.
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WSJ.COM WRAP: HealthSouth To Pay SEC $100M Over 2 Years
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Dow Jones)--HealthSouth Corp. (HLSH) announced Wednesday that it had agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission in early 2003.
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WSJ(6/1) Justices Overturn Criminal Ruling In Andersen Case
The Supreme Court overturned the 2002 criminal conviction that doomed accounting giant Arthur Andersen LLP, a ruling that won't revive the nearly defunct firm but could hamper the government's broader crackdown on white-collar crime.
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WSJ(6/1) Citigroup To Pay $208M To Settle Fraud Charges
Citigroup Inc. agreed to pay $208 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission fraud charges related to its mutual-fund operations, removing an additional regulatory cloud hanging over the company.
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COMPANIES INTERNATIONAL: AIG to pick up directors' legal bills
American International Group will pay the legal bills of its independent directors as it prepares to fend off lawsuits from aggrieved investors who are looking to cover losses from the dramatic fall in the insurer's share price.
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General Electric Gets Its Very Own SEC Subpeona
May 3, 2005 General Electric Co. has received a subpoena from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as part of its probe into finite-risk insurance products. These are the same concerns that have dogged American International Group , Berkshire Hathaway and ...
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WSJ(4/27) US Stores Blame Software For Security Breaches
THERE'S A COMMON thread to some of the recent security breaches at retailers that exposed sensitive financial details of hundreds of thousands of customers: software that retailers say improperly stored credit-card data.
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WSJ(4/29) Spitzer Sues Intermix Media Over Spyware
NEW YORK Attorney General Eliot Spitzer filed suit against Los Angeles Internet company Intermix Media Inc. for alleged illegal distribution of "spyware" and "adware" to millions of personal computers, in what his office called the most sweeping such case in the nation so far.
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WSJ(4/29) In SEC Complaint, Tale of Chicken Mogul
During his four years as senior chairman of Tyson Foods Inc., the perks Don Tyson received were striking even in an era of lavish executive compensation.
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WSJ(4/29) AIG Will Delay Filing Again Over Accounting
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--American International Group Inc. (AIG) has decided to push back a self-imposed Monday deadline for filing its twice-delayed annual report as the company and its auditors struggle to determine the total impact of accounting errors that now are expected to lop more than $2.5 billion from AIG's net worth, people familiar with the matter said.
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Justices Say Investors Must Show Loss in Fraud Suits
By DAVID STOUT, New York Times
The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that investors who bring lawsuits claiming they are victims of securities fraud must show that the wrongdoing caused them to lose money.
RIMS Survey Shows Soft Market May Have Hit Bottom
NEW YORK-- --April 18, 2005-- Commercial Insurance Prices Continue to Decline; Some Lines Show Smaller Decrease over Q4 2004; D&O Continues Slide, But Larger Programs Appear to Stabilize Prices in the commercial insurance industry, which declined steadily in 2004 in the first year-long soft market since 1998,
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WSJ(4/15) Retailers Rush To Secure Data Against Theft
AS PUBLIC CONCERNS mount over incidents of identity theft, merchants across the country are scrambling to meet a deadline of June 30 to prove they have secured their Web sites and databases against security breaches.
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KPMG `negligent' over Independent Insurance
THE ADMINISTRATORS of Independent Insurance are suing its auditors, KPMG, for negligence over the collapse of the insurance company in 2001. The administrators claim that KPMG should have spotted clues to the giant hole that opened up in Independent's accounts, and ...
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