Business Insurance

CNA posts $368 million second-quarter profit

CNA Financial Corp. Monday reported second-quarter net income of $368.0 million, more than double the $151 million in the prior-year quarter, as catastrophe losses plummeted.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Business interruption virus suit against Zurich to proceed

A California state court judge has refused to dismiss COVID-19 business interruption litigation filed by a national retailer against a Zurich Insurance Group Ltd. unit and other insurers.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Income, education linked to long-term care staff vaccination rates

A study published Friday in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report found a correlation between such factors as income and education and vaccination rates among long-term care staff.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Amwins acquires truck wholesaler

Amwins Group Inc. said Monday it has acquired National Truck Underwriting Managers Inc., a truck wholesaler that offers access to primary liability, physical damage and motor truck package policies.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Ernst & Young, auditors to pay over $10M to settle SEC charges

Accounting firm Ernst & Young LLP, a partner and two former employees agreed to pay over $10 million to settle U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission charges they violated auditor independence rules, the agency said Monday.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Abbott Labs to pay $160M over kickbacks, false diabetes claims

Abbott Laboratories will pay $160 million to resolve claims that two of its units submitted false claims to Medicare by providing kickbacks to diabetes patients, including “free” or “no-cost” glucose monitors, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

D&O prices up 7.7% in second quarter: Aon

Aon PLC clients are still facing directors and officers liability price increases but at a slower pace, according to a report released Monday.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

China securities watchdog seeks closer cooperation with US

China’s securities regulator said on Sunday it will seek closer cooperation with its U.S. counterpart and will support overseas listings, after U.S. regulators tightened disclosure for Chinese companies and voiced concern about Beijing’s regulatory a...

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Aon adds strike as new risk factor for Saudi Arabia

Professional services firm Aon PLC has updated its terrorism and political violence risk map for Saudi Arabia by adding strikes as one of the perils alongside war and terrorism.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Over 800 wildfires rage in Italy, force evacuation

Italy’s national fire service recorded more than 800 wildfires over the weekend, including a fire in the Italian city of Pescara on Aug. 1 that forced the evacuation of several beach resorts and homes.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Brit posts 14% growth in premiums

U.K.-based insurer and reinsurer Brit Ltd.’s gross written premiums increased 14% year-on-year to $1.46 billion in the first half of the year.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Strong P&C business bolsters Swiss Re’s net income

Swiss Re Ltd.’s total net income reached $1 billion in the first half of the year, reflecting robust performance on the property and casualty insurance side amid diminishing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Amazon fined nearly $890 million for GDPR violations

Luxembourg’s National Commission for Data Protection has fined Amazon Inc. €746 million ($887 million) for breaching European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

China flood losses manageable by nonlife insurers

A report by ratings agency A.M. Best Co. Inc. said that Chinese nonlife insurers will be able to manage the high insured losses resulting from the record floods that struck China’s Henan province in July.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Allianz shares drop 7% as insurer faces US probe into funds

Shares of Allianz SE declined 7% on Monday after the German insurer said the U.S. Department of Justice had begun an investigation into losses at its fund management division.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

J&J not liable for Illinois woman’s death in talc case

An Illinois jury on Friday refused to hold Johnson & Johnson liable for a woman’s death from ovarian cancer, which her family blamed on decades of using its talc-based powders.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Zoom reaches $85 million settlement in online security case

Zoom Video Communications Inc. agreed to pay $85 million and bolster its security practices to settle a lawsuit claiming it violated users’ privacy rights by sharing personal data with Facebook, Google and LinkedIn, and letting hackers disrupt Zoom m...

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Axa rebounds from pandemic as XL unit swings to profit

Axa posted a 180% surge in first-half net income on Monday as the French insurer rebounded from a spike in pandemic-related claims that led to a €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion) charge last year.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

Doctor pleads guilty in kickback scheme involving pain creams

A Lake Charles, Louisiana, physician pleaded guilty Friday to federal fraud charges stemming from a profit-splitting arrangement with a company selling topical creams and patches to injured workers, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Posted: Aug 02, 2021

DOJ intervening in Kaiser whistleblower litigation

The U.S. Department of Justice said Friday it is intervening in six complaints in whistleblower litigation alleging that members of the Kaiser Permanente consortium violated the False Claims Act by submitting inaccurate diagnosis codes for its Medica...

Posted: Jul 30, 2021

Scarlett Johansson goes red over release of ‘Black Widow’

Who’s the villain now? Walt Disney Co., according to actress Scarlett Johansson, who filed a lawsuit Thursday against the film company.

Posted: Jul 30, 2021

DOL strikes down Trump-era joint employer rule

The Biden administration on Thursday rescinded a Trump-era rule favored by employers that defined who should be considered a joint employer.

Posted: Jul 30, 2021

Chinese IPO hopefuls must provide more risk disclosures

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will not allow Chinese companies to raise money in the United States unless they fully explain their legal structures and disclose the risk of Beijing interfering in their businesses, the agency said Friday...

Posted: Jul 30, 2021

Gallagher makes Illinois buy

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. on Friday said it has acquired Oakbrook, Illinois-based R.J. Riordan & Co.

Posted: Jul 30, 2021

PG&E disputes plan for criminal charges in 2020 wildfire

PG&E Corp. said late on Thursday it disagreed with a Northern California prosecutor who said that criminal charges will be filed in last year’s Zogg Fire, arguing the California grid operator had already resolved civil claims with the affected county...

Posted: Jul 30, 2021