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Waltham , Mass. – For the second consecutive year, worries about bribery topped the list of crucial concerns addressed by global corporations, according to a 2008 study conducted by Integrity Interactive Corp., a Waltham , Mass. , firm that helps global corporations manage and reduce risk of compliance failures.

Reston , Va. — NAVA, the association for insured retirement solutions, is praising the selection of former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mary Schapiro to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Indianapolis — California insurance consumers and the state’s economy could be severely harmed if proposed changes are made to the state’s insurance rate approval structure. That was the message delivered in written comments to California insurance officials last week by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

Seattle — U.S. insurers and actuarial firms are increasingly outsourcing, offshoring and importing actuarial talent from abroad, actuaries were told at the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Casualty Actuarial Society, held in November in Seattle.

Chicago — Taking a step toward putting its financial house in order, New York-based American International Group (AIG) has sold its specialty insurance subsidiary HSB Group to Munich Re for $742 million in cash. The transaction marks the first major divestiture for beleaguered AIG after it agreed to accept a bailout from the U.S. Treasury.

Zurich, Switzerland — Acknowledging the need to improve its capital position, insurance giant Swiss Re has secured $1.5 billion in loans from New York-based JP Morgan. The insurer says the loan will guarantee it access to financing at competitive rates for years to come.

Celtics all-star Jo Jo White helps kick off “Drive Out Hunger” program.

Honolulu – Decision Research Corp. (DRC), a rating and policy processing software solution provider to the property & casualty insurance industry, announced today that Chicago-based Unitrin Direct has expanded its production use of DRC’s DecisionMaker Policy Administration Suite to include its homeowners line of business. The company, which went live with its implementation within seven months from contract signing in three states, currently supports homeowners business in 10 states.

Orlando , Fla. - Olympus Insurance, an Orlando insurer that writes voluntary homeowners policies through a statewide network of more than 2,000 agents, is expanding its footprint in Florida . The company launched a new easy-to-use Web site (www.olympusfl.com), added new policy offerings, and hired two new regional managers in Northeast and Southwest Florida to better serve its customers.

Region’s first paperless system is designed to save small businesses and brokers significant time, and eliminate up to one million pieces of paper annually.

Firm says it’s the first to offer electronic mutual fund transactions and deliver an e-signature-enabled, real-time workflow process.

BB&T acquired Burkey Risk Services of Maitland and Boynton Beach in March, with completion of the transaction expected by the end of the month.

The company's primary focus through this acquisition program is expected to be on guaranteed issue group insurance.

The move reflects the company’s continued goal of streamlining services to contain costs and stabilize the market for medical malpractice insurance in New York.

Currently, Rob Howard is Farmers’ AVP, national auto physical damage operations.

The head of the House Financial Services Committee says that such an important decision should have been handled by the incoming administration.

The association is condemning a vote to bring indexed annuities under federal regulation.

Consumers should continue to seek side air bags and anti-rollover technology as standard, says the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

According to the SEC, the move to use XBRL to find and sort information makes it easier to compare financial results, and has the potential to increase the speed, accuracy and usability of financial disclosure while eventually reduce costs for investors.

MGAs and wholesale brokers see opportunities to apply more of the technologies that the standard market is implementing, such as the ACORD XML electronic standards, Real Time workflows and the use of ACORD forms.