Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
AIG Winds Down Iran Business It Acquired Along With Validus
Nov 7 2018 // American International Group Inc. is exiting business activities in Iran that came with a subsidiary it acquired and which now butt up against the sanctions against Iran that have been reimposed by the Trump...
Run-Off Venture SOBC Darag Completes First Acquisition of Florida Auto Insurer Peachtree
Nov 7 2018 // SOBC DARAG, the joint venture formed between SOBC, the US-based run-off specialist, and DARAG, the leading legacy acquirer, has completed of its first acquisition of Peachtree Casualty Insurance Co. of Florida. The...
HDI Adds to U.S. Engineering Lines & Construction Division in Chicago
Nov 6 2018 // HDI Global Insurance Co., headquartered in Chicago, has expanded its Engineering Lines & Construction Division with several new hires. John Sprague has been appointed senior construction liability underwriter. He will...
Motel 6 Pays $7.6M to Settle Class Action Over Giving Guest Lists to Immigration Agents
Nov 6 2018 // Motel 6 will pay up to $7.6 million to Hispanic guests to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit claiming that it violated their privacy by regularly providing guest lists to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)...
Data Recorder Shows Crashed Boeing 737 Max Had Airspeed Issues on Last 4 Flights
Nov 6 2018 // The Lion Air plane that crashed in the Java Sea last week had faulty airspeed readings during its last four flights and Indonesian investigators called on planemaker Boeing Co. and U.S. authorities to ensure there...
U.S. Agencies Split Over Cell Phone Cancer Risk
Nov 6 2018 // Two U.S. government agencies are giving conflicting interpretations of a safety study on cell phone radiation: One says it causes cancer in rats. The other says there’s no reason for people to worry. No new research...
U.S. Reimposes Iranian Sanctions, Hitting Insurance, Shipping, Energy, Banking
Nov 5 2018 // The U.S. reimposed sanctions on Iran’s critical oil industry Monday, raising pressure on the Islamic Republic to scale back its ballistic missile program and involvement in conflicts across the Middle East. The...
A.M. Best Downgrades Ratings of Tokio Millennium Re, Puts RenRe Under Review
Nov 5 2018 // A.M. Besthas downgraded the financial strength rating to A+ (Superior) from A++ (Superior) and the long-term issuer credit rating to “aa-” from “aa+” of Tokio Millennium Re AG (TMR) (Switzerland)....
Pressure’s on the Trucking Sector
Nov 5 2018 // The transportation industry is considered a barometer of the U.S. economy. If freight is trending up, so too is the U.S. economy. But capacity constraints for trucking – including a shortage of qualified drivers, low...
U.S. Lawsuit Accuses Walmart of Bias Against Pregnant Employees
Nov 5 2018 // Walmart is again being accused of violating federal law by failing to accommodate workers’ pregnancy-related medical restrictions. According to a lawsuit that was brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity...
Top 10 Market Conduct Actions
Nov 5 2018 // Untimely claims handling and failure to provide required compliant claims, underwriting, and policyholder service disclosures are the U.S. insurance industry’s top compliance shortcomings. That’s according to a...
Texas Pilot Who Crashed Plane for Insurance Sentenced to Prison
Nov 5 2018 // A 33-year-old pilot, formerly of Kemah, Texas, was sentenced in early October to more than five years in prison and ordered to repay nearly $1 million in an insurance fraud-related case. Theodore Robert Wright III...
Criminal Investigation of NiSource Launched Over Massachusetts Gas Explosions
Nov 2 2018 // Federal prosecutors have launched a criminal investigation of utility company NiSource Inc over gas explosions and fires in three Massachusetts communities that killed one person and injured at least 21 others in...
Bayer Monsanto Open to Weedkiller Settlement But Denies Cancer Claims
Nov 2 2018 // Bayer AG’s chief executive said this week the company might consider settling lawsuits over Monsanto’s glyphosate-containing weed-killers depending on how high court costs rise, but stressed it remained focused...
Federal Cyber Privacy Bill Calls for Fines, Prison for Executives’ Violations
Nov 2 2018 // A senior Democratic U.S. senator on Thursday unveiled draft legislation that would allow hefty fines and as much as 20-year prison terms for executives who violate privacy and cybersecurity standards. Senator Ron Wyden...
Crashed Lion Air Boeing Jet Previously Had Problems with Altitude, Speed Sensors
Nov 2 2018 // The Lion Air jet that crashed into the Java Sea off Indonesia earlier this week had experienced problems with the sensors used to calculate altitude and speed on its previous flight, an issue that could help explain why...
AIG Executives Outline Path to Underwriting Profit in 2019
Nov 2 2018 // “We do see it coming. We expect that in 2019 we’re going to be in an underwriting profit position, not a great one, but a profit. And we’ll move from there to a great one.” So said Brian...
Global Insurance M&A Deals Total Value Soars, Volume Dips in First Half
Oct 31 2018 // Deal value for global insurance mergers and acquisitions was up $44.4 billion in the first six months of 2018, driven by a slew of megadeals that pushed value to its highest first-half total since the financial crisis,...
Former Pastor Sentenced to Prison for Setting Fire to Apartment in Insurance Scam
Oct 30 2018 // The former pastor of a Baltimore, Md., church has been sentenced to three years in prison for setting fire to an apartment he rented in Southeast Washington in a plan to collect insurance money. The announcement was made...
Update: Lion Air Jet Plunged at 350 Miles Per Hour Before Crash, Data Show
Oct 30 2018 // More than a day after a brand-new Boeing Co. 737 Max jet flown by Indonesia’s Lion Air plunged into the Java Sea, the search for the plane failed to yield much as investigators continued the grim task of uncovering...