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Minneapolis — Wolters Kluwer Financial Services named Mark Coronna executive VP of its Securities Compliance and Insurance groups. In this new role, Coronna will be responsible for the company's overall growth in its securities and insurance businesses, which have operational centers in New York City, Waltham, Mass. and Riverwoods, Ill.

Canton, Mass. — OneBeacon Insurance Group announced the appointment of Terry Thompson as senior VP and chief underwriting officer of the company's U.S. operations. Reporting to CEO Mike Miller, Thompson will be responsible for key underwriting matters across the company, including underwriting guidelines, catastrophe management, corporate insurance and reinsurance and the consideration of new business opportunities.

Atlanta — Crawford & Co. named Brian Flynn senior VP and global CIO.

Cincinnatti — American Financial Group Inc., which sells property/casualty insurance, agreed to purchase Strategic Comp Holdings LLC for an undisclosed sum.

Boston–Lexington Insurance Co. enhanced its Employment Practices Liability (EPL) insurance offerings to include E-Discovery Response, a new endorsement designed to cover an insured’s payroll expenses incurred while retrieving electronically stored information requested during discovery in a covered EPL claim.

As mortgage lenders struggle to contend with the double-barreled threat of rising defaults and lower origination volume, a third, less discussed source of risk is now starting to emerge.

Schaumburg, Ill. – Zurich named Greg Maguire as director of customer and distribution management for Zurich’s Global Corporate in North America unit, effective Jan. 1, 2008.

New York — New York Life Insurance Co. announced the appointment of Christopher Blunt and Susan Thrope to its Executive Management Committee.

Arson Registry Act Passes House

New York — In the actuarial world, process inefficiencies, increased business complexity, regulatory demands and data volume are leaving little time for crucial analysis, driving a growing trend toward automation, according to a roundtable hosted by The Insurance and Actuarial Advisory Services (IAAS) practice of Ernst & Young LLP, (E&Y) New York.

USAA and State Farm provide the best customer experiences, according to consumers surveyed by Forrester Research Inc.

Pewaukee, Wis. - Indiana Insurance, a member of Liberty Mutual Group, has been named the 2007 Company of the Year by the Independent Insurance Agents of Indiana (IIAI), an honor that Indiana Insurance also received in 2006.

Los Angeles - The Farmers Insurance Group HelpPoint claims call center has just been recognized by J.D. Power and Associates for the third year in a row for providing "An Outstanding Customer Service Experience." The recognition is for call center operation customer satisfaction excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Certified Call Center Program.

El Segundo, Calif. - Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) announced that the 200th client has licensed its RISKMASTER Business Intelligence Solutions (BIS) component, which incorporates software from Business Objects Inc., San Jose, Calif. CSC and Business Objects met this milestone when Brand Energy & Infrastructure Services Inc., a Chesterfield, Mo.-based industrial services company, licensed RISKMASTER BIS to support its claims and risk management activities.

Atlanta - SunGard Data Systems Inc., Wayne, Pa., has acquired DSPA Software Inc., a Mississauga, Ontario-based supplier of sales compensation and distribution management software to the insurance industry. DSPA Software will become part of SunGard's insurance business.

Two teams of conferees headed by Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd (D.-Conn.) and House Financial Services Committee Barney Frank (D.-Mass.) are meeting this week in an attempt to reconcile their differing visions on the extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act.

Washington – Owing in part to an association with senior insurance company executives who desire improvements in the agency distribution system for insurance products, the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA National) released an online planning tool for its members.

Despite celebrating its one-year anniversary last week, the popular press is reporting the insurance industry at large still seems to be taking a “wait and see” position on large-scale implementation of Microsoft’s Vista.

Seattle - SOA Software, an Integrated SOA governance automation vendor, has joined Microsoft's Business Process Alliance. The Business Process Alliance will propel mainstream adoption of people-ready processes by offering customers a set of end-to-end solutions for automating business processes. SOA Software's Workbench and Service Manager products provide integrated SOA governance automation capabilities for Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006 R2 and Internet Information Services (IIS).

Chicago — Aon eSolutions Group, a unit of Aon Corp., announced that 18-year insurance technology veteran Paul Holden has joined Aon eSolutions as CIO.