Digital Platforms

The Committee on Capital Markets Regulation is looking to consolidate the regulatory structure by increasing the Fed's authority, and increase oversight of credit default swaps.

Despite the sharp decline in customer advocacy for financial services companies nationwide, insurers USAA and State Farm still led the pack.

Expert says Congress should proceed with caution when revamping regulation of insurance industry.

What you don't know about your processes may be costing you money.

Many insurers still aren’t fully aware yet of the risks in the cloud, where data is exchanged between sites and users that may be beyond the control of cloud providers and their clients.

Zurich provides Webinar, information to help business owners protect their employees and profitability from risks associated with a possible Swine Flu Pandemic.

Collaboration with CNA Insurance results in out-of-the-box automated workflow enhancements to ProductAuthority, Authority Suite, helping insurers see 60% improvement in speed-to-market initiatives.

A House bill looks to supplant the current state-based system of non-resident licensing with a national one.

The legislation aims to establish a federal insurance office.

After winning approval last week for federal aid, the insurer is focused on delivering on its “historical strengths.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency presented USAA with the National Flood Insurance Program’s Administrator’s Quill Award. The award recognizes the company that writes the highest number of flood insurance policies within a given year.

A.M. Best Co. released ratings updates. The following are some of the most recent:

Surveys have shown that the majority of consumers support the option of a public health insurance plan as part of health care reform. This puts health insurers at a higher level of competition, and they are already stepping up direct mail in anticipation, according to Daniel Hayes, VP of insurance services at Mintel Comperemedia. Congress is crafting health insurance reform proposals now, but insurance companies have already been getting ready for change. The direct marketing competitive intelligence provider saw health insurers increase marketing direct mail offers to individuals by 18% in the past twelve months.

In testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, Treasury Secretary says creditors of the stricken insurer will be paid in full.

An Aon report says changes advanced in 2010 budget proposal will cost property casualty insurers.

The insurer's chairman and CEO will step down as soon as a replacement is found.

ACORD/LOMA saw multiple vendors pushing systems performance dashboards and ease of use for the business side, but does that mean we don’t need IT?

Sen. Bob Corker argued against enactment of sweeping legislation granting the government new resolution powers over systemically important companies, suggesting Congress should give the Treasury authority on a case-by-case basis.

The money, distributed from AIG's Fair Fund, will be mailed to more than 257,000 affected AIG investors in the next few months.

Insurers trying to obtain the sage advice of industry research experts may feel it’s akin to hitting a moving target, but the result is industry analysis excellence.

New research from Forrester finds marketing automation software the No. 1 packaged software application for insurers in 2009.

Greater press reports that senior policymakers are meeting to discuss creation of a commission to regulate financial products.

The announcement comes on the heels of last Friday's news that Ameriprise Financial Inc. also would not accept bailout money.

Karen Clark & Co., a Boston-based firm comprising catastrophe risk, catastrophe models, and catastrophe risk management consultants, reports that it has been selected by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) as the lead consultant in developing a recommendation on the scope, timeline and potential costs of building a national catastrophe multi-peril model for personal lines.

Three-quarters of U.S. consumers prefer buying insurance products through agents and other trusted sources, but younger and higher-income consumers are more inclined to purchase products via the Web than through an agent and are more inclined to switch insurers, according to findings of a survey of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers conducted by Burmuda-based Accenture.

Like many stakeholders in the insurance technology arena, the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) took advantage of its annual conference (the 2009 ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum) this week in Orlando to bolster its influence in the industry with several announcements.

When I first set foot in the pastoral environs of the insurance industry some dozen years ago, the producers of the ACORD conference, later to become the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum, had grand visions for the event.

Service oriented architecture has many benefits, but all too often, many SOA efforts tend to languish and get mired in organizational politics and inertia. There are many reasons why this happens, but perhaps the main reason is that SOA proponents get trapped into thinking they have to take on and sell a massive, business-transforming project, with lots of planning and lots of committee meetings.

Zurich North America announced its entry into the Risk Retention Group (RRG) and Self Insurance Groups (SIG) markets. The announcement was made last week at the Arizona Captive Insurance Conference in Phoenix . Zurich ’s North America Commercial Alternative Solutions Group reports that it has been the market leader in the member-owned Group Captive field and is now taking that expertise to the owners and members of RRG, SIG and Pooling Groups.

Insurance and financial services provider American International Group, Inc. said on Sunday that it would accelerate steps to position American International Assurance Company, Ltd. or AIA Group, as a separate entity and seek a public listing for it on an Asian stock exchange.

EbixExchange – a division of Ebix, Inc. received three awards relating to insurance industry standards forum the Association for Cooperative Operations Research and Development (ACORD) yesterday at the ACORD conference, held at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Resort. The awards were presented to EbixExchange Director of Carrier Product Development, Sandy Hampel, in recognition of EbixExchange’s leadership in ACORD standards adoption.

Insurance Networking News (INN) and Celent released INN’s third annual technology solution provider ranking for the insurance industry today at a black-tie awards event held at the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum in Orlando.

Group says federal oversight will undermine state-based consumer protection laws.

Eight million Americans now opt for self-directed plans according to new census.

Spamming physical and electronic inboxes is the norm for most companies selling products, so why insurers are conspicuously absent from such tactics?

Datacenters, and the economy as a whole, stand to gain as microprocessors become more powerful while consuming less energy.

Recent survey results show companies lack transparency needed to prevent insider threats.

American International Group is no longer alone as an official insurance industry symbol of economic stress. After three straight quarterly negative financial reports, The Hartford Financial received approval today to participate in the U.S. Treasury Department’s Troubled Assets Relief Program, which has approximately $110 billion left in the government’s kitty.

In spite of a down economy, actuaries and risk experts show no real changes to their risk management approach, notes survey.

In a letter to Congressional leaders, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner made it clear that the government is serious about revamping the nation’s financial regulatory system.

The only insurer required to take the federally-mandated test, MetLife continues to assert its financial strength.

It’s computer vs. Jeopardy champs in planned contests, but AI has some growing up to do.

Letter may shift long-running debate about flood insurance program.

Loss of deductions would be harmful, industry says.

CEO Edward Liddy says his plan does not include divesting AIG assets at fire-sale prices.

Conseco and Allianz both tout quarterly reports.

According to Forrester research, of the 18 million U.S. consumers applied for, or purchased, auto insurance via the Web, only 9% used a comparison site.

Fitch Ratings downgrades Hartford Financial Services Group’s primary life insurance subsidiaries ratings and affirms P&C subsidiaries ratings.

The Insurance Information Institute says the industry’s present capital position is stronger than before any of the major catastrophic events over the past quarter century.

GE's micro-holographic discs could allow all data on a computer to be stored on a single disc that can be read by a DVD-like player.

The Washington Legal Foundation says a set of rules adopted by the NAIC that requires insurers to disclose information related to climate change serves mainly to promote the ideological objectives of global warming activists.

The new Web site provides a forum for health care professionals to discuss the “meaningful use” of electronic health records.