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Newark, Calif.--Risk Management Solutions (RMS), the world's leading provider of products and services for the management of catastrophe risk, today announced that it provided the risk analysis for a securitization of U.S. hurricane and earthquake risk by The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.

Seattle--Safeco announced it is once again expanding the product breadth available on its single-platform online sales center Safeco Now. In a breakthrough move for small-business insurance sales, the company has introduced functionality allowing independent distributors to quote and issue commercial multi-peril (CMP) policies in as little as five minutes.

Tata Consultancy Services, a global IT services firm based in Mumbai, India, has been named a "Preferred Partner" by ISO for the ISO Rating Service. ISO is a leading provider of products and services that help measure, manage and reduce risk. As a result, TCS' flagship insurance framework, Integrated Insurance Management System (IIMS), will be expanded with the content of ISO circulars--loss costs, forms assignment and rules based on state regulations--supported and validated by ISO's industry experts and actuarial staff.

One problem facing insurers who write commercial automobile coverage is that in states with mandatory auto liability reporting, also known as ALIR, carriers must report policy changes and cancellations electronically to state Dept. of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Ken A. Crerar, president of The Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers, issued a statement in response to testimony at the Nov. 16 hearing of the Senate Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Financial Management, the Budget and International Security.

Rating agency Standard & Poor's Corp. has identified four insurers that it believes distorted their financial statements by using "financial risk reinsurance." In a report released Nov. 16, S&P claims that the financial results of Atlantic Mutual Insurance Co., Argonaut Group Inc., CNA Financial Corp. and Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. were "materially distorted in an accounting context that contrasts with Standard & Poor's perception of the true economics of the transactions."

Sapiens International Corp. N.V. a provider of business-rules based insurance solutions based in Research Triangle Park, N.C., has signed a strategic agreement with ISO to offer the ISO Rating Service, a new rating system and rate-management offering for the property and casualty industry, integrated to its Policy INSIGHT policy administration solution.

Camilion Solutions, a Toronto-based provider of product management and underwriting solutions for the insurance industry, announced Nov. 15 a "Preferred Partnership" with ISO Rating Service. The partnership will enable Camilion to provide automated ISO-validated rating, forms and statistical information to property and casualty insurers, through Camilion Underwriter.

Exstream Software Inc., Lexington, Ky., announced today an agreement with Kanematsu Electronics Ltd. (KEL) in Tokyo to market the company's products in Japan. Under the terms of the agreement, KEL will offer Dialogue, WebVerse, AFP Studio and future Exstream products as part of its solution set for managing document information infrastructures. Exstream chose Kanematsu for its strong customer relationships in the Japanese market, specifically in the mail order, insurance, security, credit card and utility industries, the company stated.

AQS Inc., Hartland, Wis., announced the release of AQS/advantage 2.0 and AQS/advantage Integrator at the ISOTech conference in New Orleans. AQS/advantage 2.0 includes a new, streamlined user interface designed to improve clients' workflow efficiency, productivity, and profitability. AQS/advantage Integrator is an ACORD XML certified solution that utilizes Web services for publishing policy and statistical data between AQS/advantage and clients' enterprise systems.

Websense Inc., a San Diego-based provider of employee internet management solutions, today announced that Penn National Insurance, Harrisburg, Pa., is utilizing Websense Enterprise to comply with the Gramm-Leach-Bliley (GLB) Act by safeguarding confidential consumer financial data from new web-based attacks. Founded in 1919, Penn National Insurance offers property-casualty insurance through 750 independent agencies.

Fiserv Insurance Solutions, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has released Version 1.2 of the Web-based Policy STAR system. The policy administration system's new version extends property-casualty insurers' capability to cut time-to-market with new products, contain maintenance expense, and improve operational efficiency and data accuracy. Program features found in the latest version include enhancements for renewals and cancellations and a migration path from legacy systems to Policy STAR.

DARIEN, Ill.--Quotesmith.com Inc., a provider of insurance quotes from over 200 leading companies, has received a subpoena requesting documents and seeking information from the State of Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, Division of Insurance. Quotesmith.com intends to cooperate fully with the Illinois Division of Insurance.

WASHINGTON--Addressing the rising cost of healthcare should be one of the top items on the domestic agenda for the new Congress, according to a national poll from the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association (BCBSA). The poll results were released at a forum today co-sponsored by BCBSA and Forbes magazine on the future of healthcare at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

New York, NY--MetLife announced that it's online employee benefits management portal, MetLink, received the 2004 E-Fusion award for Customer Service and Benefits Management. This prominent industry award, presented at the AM Best Insurance and Technology Conference, is awarded to insurance companies and their affiliates for outstanding, resourceful uses of technology in the insurance industry.

FALLS CHURCH, Va.--The Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X12 and the Data Interchange Standards Association (DISA) have launched the ASC X12 Implementation Guide Request for Interpretation Web site.

PLANO, Texas --Fuego, a provider of business process management (BPM) solutions, today announced the latest version of FuegoBPM software suite.

The incentive of insurers to explore online learning, beside the low travel costs and reduction of lost agent and employee productivity, is the fact that carriers can turn around training relatively quickly. This is essential with so many new products, regulatory compliance requirements and other liability issues nipping at their heels.

BOSTON--According to an analysis conducted by AIR Worldwide (AIR), a leading risk modeling company, the 2004 hurricane season should not be considered rare. The analysis, based on the AIR hurricane model, revealed that insurers should expect to see four hurricanes make landfall in the U.S. approximately once every 12 years. The expected frequency of four loss producing hurricanes in Florida is about once every 150 years--still within the range to which most insurance companies manage their catastrophe risk.

PORTLAND, Ore.-- Standard Insurance Company, a subsidiary of StanCorp Financial Group, Inc., today announced the release of The Standard Select(SM) suite of insurance products, which feature enhancements to the company's Group Life, Long Term Disability (LTD) and Short Term Disability (STD) insurance options for small businesses.