Author: Farkas Laura

The National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) announced that it will back federal insurance regulation as long as certain conditions are met, such as ensuring that the proposal set forth to implement the optional federal charter system (OFC) offers agent choice, enhances consumer protection and does not destroy the existing state-based system, if… Continue reading NAIFA Lays Out Conditions for OFC Support

Marsh & McLennan Cos., one of the largest insurance brokerages, said Monday its executive vice president and chief financial officer, Matthew Bartley, is leaving the company.    Marsh & McLennan is in the process of searching for his replacement. Bartley, who has served as CFO since 2006, will remain with the company until a successor… Continue reading Marsh & McLennan’s CFO to Step Down

Members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) moved forward over the weekend with a regulatory response that will help the municipal bond market by reducing pressure on insurance companies to sell bonds insured by downgraded bond insurers. The reform, which takes effect July 1, will permit substituting a credit rating from the NAIC… Continue reading NAIC Moves Forward on Municipal Bond Credit Rating Reform

Chief Executive Ken Thompson of Wachovia, the fourth-largest U.S. bank, was asked to step down in the wake of growing legal troubles and loan losses tied to the purchase of a big mortgage lender just before the nation’s housing boom went bust.     Lanty Smith, who replaced Thompson as chairman last month, was named… Continue reading Credit Crunch, Mounting Losses Sees Ousting of Wachovia’s Chief Executive

According to a study released on Friday by the Commonwealth Fund, a private foundation that researches health policy, the number of uninsured U.S. young adults rose again in 2006. This segment already represents a significant portion of the American population without health coverage. The report indicates that based on census data, 13.7 million people aged… Continue reading Report Shows Number of Young Adults without Health Coverage Continues to Climb

According to Mortgage Insurance Cos of America (MCIA), defaults on privately insured mortgages rose sharply in April, reflecting the continued struggle homeowners are having to make their loan payments. However, a one-time change in some of the data may have painted a worse picture than reality, says MCIA, which compiles the data from information provided… Continue reading Insured Mortgage Defaults Rose Significantly in April

The past few years have been good ones for most U.S. commercial lines insurers, according to an article published today by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services. The article, which is titled “Midyear 2008 U.S. Commercial Lines Outlook: Declining Underwriting Margins Could Mean Future Downgrades,” says that the robust price increases that began in earnest in… Continue reading S&P: Decreasing Underwriting Margins Could Hurt U.S. Commercial Lines Insurer Ratings, Outlook Says

For the second time in two months a construction crane collapsed in New York City, this time on the Upper East side at 91st Street and First Avenue at a construction site. The crane crashed into a residential building and killed at least two people.     The crane collapsed during the morning rush hours.… Continue reading BREAKING NEWS: Another Crane Collapses in NYC

Colorado insurers can expect up to $147 million in insured losses from a tornado and hail on May 22, which would rank the storm fourth among the state’s costliest insured disasters.     According to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, about 20,000 claims for damage to homes and automobiles are expected from the tornado,… Continue reading Up to $147M in Insured Losses Expected as a Result of CO Tornado

In some areas of California, there are so many foreclosed homes available for people to purchase cheaply that real estate agents are discouraging prospective sellers from even putting their houses on the market.     The most extreme example of this is perhaps in Stockton, about 85 miles east of San Francisco, where roughly three… Continue reading Homeowners in Some Areas of CA Discouraged from Putting Homes on the Market