Government News

Forfeiture Hearing Set in Ex-Pennsylvania Judge’s Fraud Conviction

A federal court forfeiture hearing is set in the case of a former Pennsylvania Superior Court judge convicted of insurance fraud. Michael Joyce, of Millcreek Township, is serving a 46-month prison sentence for collecting $440,000 in a low-speed accident in …

Florida’s BankAtlantic Executives Found Guilty of Securities Fraud

Executives at Florida-based lender BankAtlantic Bancorp Inc. failed to alert investors about risks in its real estate loan portfolio as the U.S. housing market collapsed, a Miami federal jury ruled Thursday in a rare securities fraud class action verdict. The …

Oregon Proposes Changing Insurance Licensing Requirements

The Oregon Insurance Division recently has proposed changing rules to restructure the order in which a person applies for an insurance license to eliminate the pre-approval process. Restructuring the process would eliminate the pre-approval process that is currently conducted before …

California Self-Insured Group Defaults

The Contractors Access Program of California (CAP), a self insured group, has been declared in default due to insufficient funding required for continued operation, California’s Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) Director John C. Duncan announced. Duncan said the default was …

Calif. Commissioner Rejects Increase in Workers’ Comp Cost Benchmark

California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has rejected – for the third consecutive time – a workers’ comp rate filing submitted on behalf of insurers by the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) seeking a 27.7 percent rate increase. “I will …

Florida Jury Awards Smoker’s Daughter $80 Million

A Florida jury has awarded the daughter of a deceased smoker $80 million in a lawsuit against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Dianne Webb claimed her father’s 1996 death was caused by a 60-year smoking addiction fed by company manipulation and …

Texas Likely Will Seek to Protect Its Piece of Surplus Lines Tax Pie

The federal financial services reform act signed by President Barack Obama in July 2010 contained a provision reforming the way surplus lines insurance premiums are reported and taxed. The Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act, or NRRA, was supported by the …

BP Could Gain Claimants’ Rights to Sue Other Oil Spill Firms

Claimants to BP Plc’s $20 billion oil spill fund may soon be required to transfer to the company their right to sue other defendants, a move that could help BP’s efforts to collect billions of dollars from its business partners. …

RenaissanceRe to Sell U.S. Insurance Operations to QBE

Bermuda-based RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. announced that it has “entered into a definitive agreement with QBE Holdings, Inc. to sell its U.S. property and casualty business underwritten through managing general agents, its crop insurance business underwritten through Agro National Inc. and …

EU to Give Insurance Industry More Time to Prepare for Solvency II

European Union regulators look set to bow to insurance industry demands for more time to adjust to new solvency rules, with the head of the EU’s insurance watchdog acknowledging that some of the measures would have to be phased in …