National News

Insurtech Next Insurance Ditching Agency Model to Become a Carrier

Next Insurance, which debuted in 2016 as a digital insurance agency for small to medium-size businesses, is repositioning itself by becoming a licensed insurance carrier. The company says it has received its first license from Delaware and expects to be …

More Large Employers Add Financial Wellness Tools to Benefits Menu

Study after study shows that money stress can be as bad for workplace productivity as back pain. The latest study, released by PwC on Tuesday, found that a quarter of U.S. workers said financial worries caused them health problems. Forty …

Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty Expands Cargo Coverage

Allianz Group’s specialist corporate insurer Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty (AGCS) has expanded its Project Cargo offering through a direct partnership with its Engineering division. The new collaborative approach will allow AGCS to provide continuous end-to-end coverage for companies managing …

Microsoft to Extend EU Data Privacy Rights Globally. Facebook, Google Not Quite.

Microsoft promised this week to give users worldwide the same data and privacy rights Europeans will get under new regulations there. That’s in contrast to some of its tech rivals, who are hedging on how much privacy protections will change …

How Data Privacy Laws Could Hamper Insurance Underwriting

Complying with the European Union’s new General Data Protection Regulation is leading insurers and reinsurers to dilute the types of data they gather—something that could diminish underwriting quality, A.M. Best said in its latest regulatory assessment. The GDPR kicks in …

J&J Loses Second Talcum Powder Trial

Johnson & Johnson lost a second trial linking baby powder use to deadly asbestos cancer and jurors must next decide whether to punish the company on top of their award of $21.7 million in damages. Jurors in state court in …

Bond Insurer Assured Guaranty Sues Puerto Rico Again Over Turnaround Plan

Bond insurer Assured Guaranty sued Puerto Rico and its federally-appointed oversight board on Wednesday, saying their plan to resuscitate the storm-ravaged, bankrupt U.S. territory violates the U.S. Constitution by stripping creditors of property rights. Assured, which insures $5 billion of …

Insurers Welcome Global Regulation Provision in Banking Reform Bill

The financial services regulatory reform measure passed by Congress yesterday, which contains parts of more than 25 different bills, includes a provision on international insurance regulation that is being met with cheers by the insurance industry. This bill, which rolls …

What Banks Got, Did Not Get in Dodd Frank Rewrite Passed by Congress

Congress on Tuesday rolled back some of the restraints imposed on banks after the 2007-2009 global financial crisis, but big players like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan Chase, will not be breaking out the champagne. While Wall Street banks …

U.S. Safety Board Urges Seat Belts, Automatic Brakes on School Buses

The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday recommended for the first time that all new school buses in the U.S. be equipped with lap and shoulder belts. The NTSB also voted to recommend that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration …

National News Archives by Month