October 28, 2011
Alexis de Tocqueville, in his masterpiece Democracy in America, marveled at how the American people of the 1830s were the most fraternal he had ever encountered. In addition to their political, commercial and industrial associations, he noted that Americans of all ages, dispositions and stations in life would form bonds “of a thousand different types [...]
October 27, 2011
In the United States, publicly traded companies must file quarterly financial statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which the SEC makes available to the public through their EDGAR service. Bank holding companies file their own quarterly performance reports with the Federal Reserve, which the Fed makes available to the public through its National Information [...]
October 26, 2011
Earlier this month, the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association’s management offered an update on implementation of the reform legislation passed in June. The report displayed an overall commitment to address many of the issues that have concerned lawmakers in the past. TWIA intends to control expenses by contracting directly with legal defense and adjusting firms, requiring [...]
October 26, 2011
The announcement by MetLife Inc., the only major U.S. insurance group currently organized as a bank holding company, that it has been ordered by the Federal Reserve to hold off on plans to increase its dividend could offer a harbinger of things to come should other insurers be designated “systemically important” by the Financial Stability [...]
October 24, 2011
Efforts to reform Michigan’s unique auto insurance law, which ensures costly coverage by requiring essentially uncapped medical benefits, are facing some resistance in the state’s House of Representatives. A group of House Democrats are looking to rally floor opposition to H.B. 4936, which already has passed the Michigan House Insurance Committee. The bill, sponsored by [...]
October 24, 2011
Homeowners insurance rates nationwide are projected to produce after-tax returns on equity of just 4.8% over the next year, which may not be enough to cover the industry’s cost of capital, according to new analysis from reinsurance broker Aon Benfield Analytics. Aon’s analysis suggests that while large property insurers’ rate filings as of July 2011 [...]
October 21, 2011
Former Illinois Insurance Director Michael McRaith will appear before Congress for the first time since stepping into his new role as the first-ever director of the Federal Insurance Office, a U.S. Treasury Department agency created by the Dodd-Frank Act to monitor developments in the domestic insurance industry. McRaith has been confirmed as a witness for [...]
October 19, 2011
The Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, the state-run reinsurance facility from which all property insurers in the state are required to purchase coverage, would not be able to borrow enough money in the capital markets following a major hurricane to cover its $18.389 billion in potential claims-paying obligations, according to new analysis from the fund’s financial [...]
October 18, 2011
Sean Carr of rating agency A.M. Best’s BestWeek and BestWire publications is reporting (subscription required for the link) that both Republican and Democratic leaders of the House Financial Services Committee are calling on members of the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction – also known as the “Super Committee” – to take up flood insurance [...]
October 18, 2011
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has yet to schedule floor time for consideration of the National Flood Insurance Program reform bill the Senate Banking Committee passed unanimously early last month. While we’re still hopeful the Senate will vote on the package, there remain some roadblocks to be cleared. Among these are some lawmakers’ efforts [...]
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