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Investor Wilbur Ross has reached an agreement to acquire the mortgage loan servicing business of H&R Block’s Option One Mortgage, forming the second largest mortgage servicing company in the United States. The $1.1 billion deal adds to the acquisition by WL Ross & Co. of American Home, giving the company $95 billion in mortgage financing.… Continue reading Ross Acquires Option One Mortgage

PMI Group Inc. recorded fourth-quarter huge losses due to its stake in Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., as well as losses at its U.S. mortgage insurance operations amid turmoil in the housing and credit markets. The company also slashed its quarterly dividend 76% as the nation’s largest mortgage insurer looks to conserve capital. PMI reported a… Continue reading PMI Posts Huges Losses for Fourth Quarter

H.R. 5633, which would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer information in connection with some personal lines of insurance, could lead to premium increases for many consumers by depriving insurers of one of the most predictive underwriting tools at their disposal. Insurers’ use of credit scoring to price insurance… Continue reading Credit Reporting Amendment Could Increase Premiums

The U.S. Federal Reserve cut to its lending rate to financial institutions to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent, effective immediately, and created another lending facility for big investment banks to secure short-term loans.    The moves were part of a series of new steps to help provide relief to a spreading credit crisis that threatens… Continue reading Fed Takes Steps to Protect Financial Institutions

On Monday, as investor jitters are increasingly shaken that more financial institutions could become casualties in the widening U.S. financial crisis that led to JPMorgan Chase acquiring investment bank Bear Stearns, the U.S. dollar tumbled to a record low against the euro.    The market shrugged off news late Sunday that the Federal Reserve had… Continue reading Dollar Continues its Decline as World Market Worries Over US Financial Markets

On Sunday JPMorgan Chase announced that it will acquire rival Bear Stearns in a deal valued at $236.2 million–or $2 a share–a stunning collapse for one of the world’s largest and most venerable investment banks. The last-minute buyout was aimed at averting a Bear Stearns bankruptcy and a spreading crisis of confidence in the global… Continue reading JPMorgan to Buy Bear Stearns at $2 Per Share

Testifying before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee yesterday, New York State Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo discussed on efforts stabilizing the bond insurance market and protecting insurance consumers. “The best way to protect policyholders is to preserve the triple-A ratings of the bond insurers where that is possible,” Dinallo said. “So we have been facilitating… Continue reading NY Insurance Regulator Provides Bond Insurance Update

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley and the State Rating Bureau are recommending that the Division of Insurance not approve rate hikes proposed by the state’s insurer of last resort because the rates are “excessive and insupportable,” Coakley said.    In a brief filed with the Division of Insurance as part of a hearing on the… Continue reading MA Attorney General, Rating Bureau Oppose FAIR Plan Rate Hikes

On Thursday, AIG shares fell as much as 8 percent on concern the world’s largest insurer could face larger-than-expected losses from a credit derivatives portfolio that has already led it to $11 billion in write-downs. “AIG believes economic losses from its (credit default swap) exposures are unlikely to exceed $900 million. However, Morgan Stanley analyst… Continue reading AIG Shares Fall as More Losses Are Expected

According to an article published by Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services, the ratings on workers’ compensation insurers could face negative pressure in the latter part of 2008 and in 2009, as workers’ compensation rates have been declining, significantly reducing the margins of insurers that write this business.    In a report, the agency added that… Continue reading S&P Reports WC Rates Declining