Latest USA Headlines
All the headlines from our USA Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Commercial Auto: Profitability Issues Remain, but There’s Light at the End of Tunnel
Oct 1 2018 // Despite insurers’ best efforts to increase rates to compensate for losses, commercial auto continues to be an unprofitable line. In less than a decade, despite continued increases in premiums, two major carriers have...
Restaurants Must Pay Minimum Wage for Work Unrelated to Serving
Oct 1 2018 // Restaurants must pay waiters and bartenders minimum wage when they are engaged in tasks such as cleaning toilets that are unrelated to their main jobs and do not offer tips, a divided U.S. appeals court ruled last...
50 Million Facebook Accounts Exposed to Takeover in Huge Breach
Sep 30 2018 // Facebook Inc. said on Friday that hackers stole digital login codes allowing them to take over nearly 50 million user accounts in its worst security breach ever given the unprecedented level of potential access, adding to...
Chicago Insurance Agent Pleads Guilty to Federal, State Tax Evasion
Sep 28 2018 // A Chicago insurance agent has pleaded guilty to failing to pay federal and state taxes on more than $4.7 million in income earned over a decade, according to federal prosecutors. The office of the United States Attorney...
Uber Settles with States for $148M Over Failure to Disclose Data Breach
Sep 27 2018 // Uber Technologies Inc. will pay $148 million for failing to disclose a massive data breach in 2016, marking a costly resolution to one of the biggest embarrassments and legal tangles the ride-hailing company has...
Court Rules Cryptocurrencies Fall Under Commodities Regulator
Sep 27 2018 // A federal judge said on Wednesday that virtual currencies meet the definition of a commodity and fall within the jurisdiction of the U.S. derivatives regulator, allowing the agency to pursue fraud allegations against My...
KPMG Loses More Staff & Clients in Continuing Fallout From S. Africa Gupta Scandal
Sep 26 2018 // KPMG LLP is continuing to lose staff and clients in South Africa more than a year after issuing a public apology for some of the work it did in the country, according to people familiar with the matter. A team responsible...
Insured Losses from China’s Typhoon Mangkhut Estimated at US$1B-US$2B: AIR
Sep 26 2018 // Industry insured losses from Typhoon Mangkhut in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Macau will be between US$1 billion and US$2 billion, according to catastrophe risk modeling firm AIR Worldwide. After making landfall in the...
Congress on Track to Double Size of U.S. Overseas Investment Agency
Sep 26 2018 // The head of the main U.S. agency for aiding developing country infrastructure projects said on Monday the ability to extend funding for such investments is expected to double if new legislation is approved by the U.S....
U.S. Safety Agency Targets Pilot Fatigue with Technology, Stricter Work Rules
Sep 26 2018 // U.S. accident investigators probing a San Francisco incident last year in which a jetliner was mere feet from landing on top of at least one other plane are poised to recommend new automated safety warnings and better...
Florence Impact on Insurers Tempered by Mostly Uninsured Flood Losses
Sep 25 2018 // This enhanced satellite image made available by NOAA shows Hurricane Florence off the eastern coast of the United States on Wednesday, Sept. 12, 2018 at 5:52 p.m. EDT. (NOAA via AP) Insurance industry losses from Hurricane...
U.S. Lawsuit Accuses Walmart of Bias Against Pregnant Employees
Sep 24 2018 // Walmart is again being accused of violating federal law by failing to accommodate workers’ pregnancy-related medical restrictions. According to a lawsuit brought by the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...
Space Junk: Emerging Global Risk Threatens Satellite Communications – Opinion
Sep 21 2018 // Last Saturday, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration launched the Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite-2, which will monitor Earth’s ice sheets, recording changes in ice thickness as small as half a...
Restaurants Must Pay Minimum Wage for Work Unrelated to Serving
Sep 21 2018 // Restaurants must pay waiters and bartenders minimum wage when they are engaged in tasks such as cleaning toilets that are unrelated to their main jobs and do not offer tips, a divided U.S. appeals court ruled this week. At...
Home Price Appreciation in Highest-Risk Areas Outpaces Overall Rate
Sep 20 2018 // Natural hazards are good at grabbing headlines, but they aren’t as good as dissuading people from buying homes in high-risk areas, a new report shows. Median home prices in areas that are in the top 80 percentile for...
Government Ends Criminal Case Over GM Handling of Ignition Switch Defect
Sep 20 2018 // A federal judge in New York on Wednesday dismissed a criminal case brought against General Motors Co. in 2015 over the largest U.S. automaker’s handling of an ignition-switch defect linked to 124 deaths. U.S....
Why Small Mutual P/C Insurers, Insurtechs May Need Each Other: A.M. Best
Sep 19 2018 // Technology-oriented insurance startups and established small mutual property/casualty insurers may find they are better off partnering than competing. Mutual property/casualty insurance companies continue to face...
After Blasts, Massachusetts Gas Customers Face Long Wait
Sep 19 2018 // The blast of high-pressure natural gas that led to dozens of home explosions last week in Massachusetts very likely damaged the system’s antiquated pipeline network and could lead to a long period of testing and...
After Florence Floods, Uninsured Awaken to Painful Reality
Sep 19 2018 // Flood insurance was far from Stephanie Walker’s mind in 2015 when she moved her family into a home in Fayetteville in central North Carolina, nearly 200 miles (320 km) from the coast. The next year, a creek at the...
Karen Clark & Co. Estimates $2.5B in Insured Losses from Hurricane Florence
Sep 18 2018 // Insured losses from Hurricane Florence will reach $2.5 billion, according to an estimate from Karen Clark & Co. The estimate of insured losses to residential, commercial, and industrial properties and autos comes from...
