Business Insurance: Breaking News
WASHINGTON (Reuters)?A U.S. health insurance giant Wednesday presented a proposal to reduce the number of Americans without medical coverage and said it was intended as a blueprint for U.S. policymakers. The Blue Cross & Blue Shield Assn., whose 39 regional companies insure about 100 million...
WASHINGTON (Reuters)?Sen. Christopher Dodd said Wednesday he is determined to move federal flood insurance legislation through the Senate promptly, despite resistance from Louisiana lawmakers. "I intend to do all I can to move this legislation to the president's desk as soon as possible," said the...
BRUSSELS (Reuters)?The executive European Commission adopted a far-reaching plan on Wednesday to cut EU emissions of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, boost renewable energy use and increase biofuels, an EU source said. "It's adopted just now," the source said after the 27-member...
NEW YORK (Reuters)?Ambac Financial Group Inc. reported a quarterly loss of $3.3 billion on Tuesday after recording massive credit derivative write-downs, but its shares surged after the bond insurer said it hopes to find much-needed capital "reasonably soon." Ambac said it also hopes its main...
VIENNA, Austria?Wiener Staedtische Versicherung AG, Vienna Insurance Group, reported Tuesday that its unconsolidated group premiums reached ?7.17 billion ($10.4 billion) in 2007, up 17.2% from last year. The group's consolidated pre-tax profit will be approximately ?435 million ($631 million),...
LONDON (Reuters)?European insurers dropped on Monday on fears over their bond exposure following news that a unit of bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. lost a crucial "AAA" rating. The DJ Stoxx insurance index was down 5.9% at its lowest for two years and making it the biggest sectoral faller...
TAIPEI, Taiwan (Reuters)?Prudential Financial, one of the largest U.S. life insurers, is overweight on U.S. stocks believing widely expected U.S. interest rate cuts would keep any recession short and boost stocks, an executive said on Monday. "There could be a recession, but it's going to be short,"
LONDON (Reuters)?U.S. private equity firm JC Flowers & Co. L.L.C. said on Monday it was considering making an offer for Britain's Friends Provident, boosting the shares of the stricken insurer. JC Flowers, which also said an entity that it advises had acquired a stake of around 2.7% in Friends,...
NEW YORK (Reuters)?A Florida court stayed an order on Friday from the state's insurance commissioner, clearing the way for Allstate Corp. to once again write new auto and other policies in the state. Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty had suspended Allstate on Wednesday from writing new policies...
NEW YORK (Reuters)?Schering-Plough Corp.'s chief executive officer said Friday he has seen no signs of insurers aiming to tighten reimbursement for its Vytorin cholesterol drug, following mixed results from a closely watched trial of the blockbuster pill. "I'm not aware of any pullback" by...
