Category: Show on Homepage

According to an article that appeared in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel over the weekend, nine of 10 local insurance agents who spoke with the paper recently said most of their customers’ yearly property insurance premiums have dropped 15 percent to 40 percent this year. Customers who have bolstered their homes to better withstand hurricanes are… Continue reading FL Homeowners Rates Heading South for Some

Amid continued concern over the credit markets and as a UBS analyst cut his price target on Radian Group Inc., shares of the financial insurer fell for the second straight day. Radian Group shares fell 28 cents, or 11 percent, to $2.32 in morning trading. Earlier in the session, shares hit an all-time low of… Continue reading Radian Group Stocks Tumble

The Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) is encouraging New York legislators to pass legislation (A-11693/S-8624) introduced today that would reinstate insurance flex rating for auto insurance and address coastal homeowners insurance issues.    “This is a very positive development for consumers,” said Paul Magaril, regional manager and counsel for PCI. “We have been… Continue reading PCI Supports New York’s Competition-based Flex Rating Proposal

Newly appointed American International Group Inc. (AIG) CEO Robert Willumstad reported that he had a “positive” first meeting with former CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg on Thursday.     Willumstad, AIG chairman and a former Citigroup executive, took over as CEO at the world’s largest insurer, replacing Martin Sullivan, who succeeded Greenberg in 2005. Sullivan stepped… Continue reading AIG CEO Willumstad and Former Head Greenberg Meet

Citing their impaired ability to raise capital and write new business, Moody’s Investors Service on Thursday stripped the insurance arms of Ambac Financial Group and MBIA of their AAA ratings. Moody’s said earlier this month it was likely to cut the ratings of Ambac Assurance and MBIA Insurance as plunging share prices and the high… Continue reading Moody’s Cuts Ambac and MBIA Insurance Unit Ratings

In the wake of the collapse of brokerage firm Bear Stearns & Cos., Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is expected to call for faster changes to the oversight of financial markets that would expand the role of the Federal Reserve. Mr. Paulson will say in a speech to be delivered today that the fall of Bear… Continue reading Paulson to Call for More Fed Control, Sooner than Later

Former managers of two high-profile Bear Stearns Cos. bond portfolios have been indicted on securities fraud and other charges in the collapse of the funds last year, which cost investors more than $1 billion.    Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, according to a nine-count indictment, have been charged with conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. … Continue reading Former Bear Stearns Managers Indicted on Securities Fraud

Germany’s second-biggest reinsurer, Hannover Re completed the sale of $133 million of bonds to help protect against U.S. catastrophes.    The one-year bonds “consist exclusively of U.S. catastrophe business, predominantly hurricane risks in Florida,” the reinsurer said in an e-mailed statement today.    The bonds will be sold through Globe Re, a Bermuda-based company set… Continue reading Hannover Re Sells $133M in Bonds for Catastrophe Protection in U.S.

President Bush this morning at a press conference spoke about the need to increase U.S. oil production, including lifting the ban on offshore oil drilling in an effort to change the course of the energy crisis. The President said that Congress should end the ban on oil shale drilling, and open Alaska reserve to drilling… Continue reading BREAKING NEWS: President Bush Talks Oil Drilling Reforms

Only 3% of survey participants with international operations have purchased separate Directors and Officers (D&O) liability insurance policies for other individual countries, according to the 2007 Survey on Insurance Purchasing and Claims Trends conducted by Towers Perrin. Forty-three percent of all survey participants indicated that their firms are global.     Global D&O coverage has… Continue reading Study: U.S. Firms Rely On Worldwide U.S. D&O Policies to Provide Global Coverage