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According to a new study by Conning Research and Consulting, Inc, while the property/casualty industry still appears to have strong reserves, overall its position began to deteriorate in 2007. “The property/casualty industry’s reserve position began to deteriorate slightly in 2007, when compared with our prior analyses,” said Stephan Christiansen, director of research at Conning Research… Continue reading Conning Study: P/C Reserves Still Strong, But Deteriorated in ’07

The owner of the second-largest credit ratings company, Moody’s Corp., ousted the head of its structured finance unit and said employees violated internal rules in assigning ratings to last year’s worst performing securities. In a statement distributed today, some Moody’s Investors Service staff breached rules for ranking European constant proportion debt obligations, bonds backed by… Continue reading Moody’s Staff Violated Internal Rules, Ousts Head of Unit

According to a study by Allstate Insurance Co., Sioux Falls, South Dakota has the safest drivers in the nation, marking it the third straight year that the heartland’s city has topped the list. Researchers with Allstate analyzed two years of internal crash data to calculate the chance that drivers in 193 of the nation’s most… Continue reading Study: Sioux Falls is Safest US Driving City

Today CIT Group announced that it has agreed to sell nearly $10 billion of mortgage assets, in a deal that removes problem loans from the commercial lender’s balance sheet and lifted its shares 14 percent in premarket trading. CIT, which has struggled to finance itself amid the credit crunch, sold its subprime mortgage business for… Continue reading CIT Selling $10B in Mortgage Assets

In a twist to a scandal that has rocked the insurance industry over the last several years, a New York appeals court has ruled that contingent commissions paid out by Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group Inc. are not illegal.     The ruling stems from pending 2006 lawsuit against Liberty Mutual brought by former New York… Continue reading NY Appeal Courts: Contingency Commissions Not Illegal

According to the Washington-based Mortgage Insurance Companies of America, newly delinquent homeowners with private mortgage insurance outnumbered those who caught up on overdue payments for a 26th straight month in May. In the worst housing slump since the Great Depression, 67,967 people fell at least 60 days behind on mortgages, compared with 40,687 who got… Continue reading Homeowners Continue to Fall Behind on Mortgage Payments

Fitch’s Insurance Group late last week had withdrawn its ‘AA’ IFS rating on MBIA Insurance Corp. (MBIA) and other related entities. Based on that withdrawal, Fitch is taking the following actions on MBIA-insured municipal securities:     –Ratings on securities for which Fitch maintains underlying ratings of ‘AA’ or higher are not affected;    … Continue reading Fitch Withdraws AA IFS Rating on MBIA

Speaking to the European American Press Club in Paris today, the chief executive of Bank of New York Mellon Corp said that he expected further losses from the banking sector and added that the U.S. housing market crisis could continue for some time. “I think that in financial institutions, we’re going to see more losses… Continue reading Bank of NY’s CEO Sees Further Losses in Sector

Today the Bush administration announced that it’s freezing a scheduled 10% fee cut for doctors who treat Medicare patients, in an effort to give Congress time to act to stop the cuts when lawmakers return from a July 4 recess. The move spares lawmakers from having to use the recess to explain to seniors why… Continue reading Pres Bush Delays Scheduled Doctor Fee Cut for Medicare Patients

The American Insurance Association (AIA) last week commended Gov. Matt Blunt (R) for signing a legislative fix to the state’s onerous Supreme Court decision in Schoemehl but called for swift action on the state’s failing Workers’ Compensation Second Injury Fund (SIF).       “Fixing the Schoemehl decision was a priority of the AIA and we’re… Continue reading AIA Comments on MO Governor’s Workers Comp Legislation Fix