September 29, 2011
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and Harleysville Insurance announced on Thursday, Sept. 29, that they have agreed to a merger. Nationwide Mutual will acquire Harleysville Group for $760 million. Nationwide Mutual will pay $60 a share in cash for Harleysville, nearly …
September 29, 2011
Monsanto Co. has lost a bid to close part of a lawsuit alleging the company caused health injuries to residents living near a plant that made the Vietnam War-era U.S. military defoliant “Agent Orange.” Monsanto, which operated a Nitro, West …
September 29, 2011
A.M. Best Co. has downgraded the financial strength rating to ‘B++’ (Good) from ‘A-‘ (Excellent) and issuer credit rating to ‘bbb’ from ‘a-‘of Ansvar Insurance Limited (New Zealand), and has placed both ratings under review with negative implications. The rating …
September 29, 2011
Climate change will cause damage in Canada equivalent to around 1 percent of GDP in 2050 as rising temperatures kill off forests, flood low-lying areas and cause more illnesses, an official panel said Thursday. The National Round Table on the …
September 29, 2011
There has been a surge in the fire at Shell’s Singapore refinery, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said in a statement on Thursday. “The fire fighting operations are still ongoing,” the statement added. “There has been a surge in …
September 29, 2011
Typhoon Nesat hit Hainan Island in south China on Thursday after it swept past Hong Kong, closing financial markets, schools and most businesses in one of Asia’s largest financial centers. China recalled ships and suspended flights and ferry services in …
September 29, 2011
European insurers Allianz and AXA SA are among the potential bidders for HSBC Holdings Plc’s sale of its general insurance business, which could fetch more than $1 billion, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. HSBC , Europe’s biggest bank, …
September 29, 2011
Xchanging, the London-based business process and technology services provider and integrator, announced that it has “gained full control of Xchanging Broking Services Limited, the Enterprise Partnership it formed with Aon Limited.” The consolidation follows Aon’s decision to exercise “the put …
September 29, 2011
Aon Benfield, the global reinsurance intermediary and capital advisor of Aon Corp, has issued a bulletin indicating that Australian and New Zealand insurers, who were hit with “catastrophic events” in 2010 and 2011, had “nearly two-thirds of the losses reinsured.” …
September 29, 2011
A national safety group is urging states and regulators to adopt new standards that would ban a pipe-cleaning practice blamed for a 2010 Connecticut power plant explosion that killed six workers. The National Fire Protection Association’s new standard, published a …