Core systems

Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group, through its wholly owned subsidiary Liberty Insurance Company (LICL), will establish a branch in Zhejiang, thanks to approval by the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC).

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office has released a report that criticizes deregulation of the auto insurance market in the state.

The top 10 risks facing business today may be largely elusive to corporate leaders, according to Joe Plumeri, Willis Group Holdings Limited. At a Town Hall meeting in Los Angeles this week, the global insurance broker’s chairman and CEO called on businesses to step up and acknowledge and respond to the risks facing business.

John Healy resigned his position as CEO of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA) to pursue other interests, and Susan Waters, EDM, CAE has assumed the position of Acting CEO, the association announced.

Aon Corp. launched Aon Broking, a broking strategy for clients of the firm's retail brokerage operation. The new strategy is designed to ensure that Aon Risk Services’ clients benefit from the broking resources Aon provides, and gain access to solutions and markets for their specific needs.

President Obama signed HR 3326, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010, which includes a law that lengthens the duration of the COBRA subsidy from nine months to 15 months for eligible employees and their dependents. It also extends the subsidy to those Americans who lose their jobs on or before Feb. 28, 2010.

Bank of America Corp.'s lawsuit against MGIC Investment Corp. reflects escalating tensions in the industry over mortgage insurers' denials of claims that lenders submit for defaulted home loans.

Countrywide Financial Corp., now owned by Bank of America Corp., will have to reimburse as many as 17 million victims of the breach free and offer credit monitoring as a result of a settlement that was approved by a U.S. District Court Judge Thomas B. Russell in Kentucky. The Associated Press reports that the settlement calls for Countrywide give the victims, including anyone who obtained a mortgage and anyone who used Countrywide to service a mortgage before July 1, 2008, free credit monitoring and up to $50,000 in reimbursements per instance of identity theft, provided they actually lost something of value, were not reimbursed and can prove the loss more likely than not stemmed from the Countrywide breach.

Boston-based Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company is closing its recently formed MassMutual Retirement Income (MMRI) unit, according to a report in Investment News. The unit was formed in April 2007 to deliver “advisor-focused solutions for customers’ accumulation and guaranteed lifetime income needs.”

The National Institute of Standards and Technology is seeking information as it launches an initiative to analyze health information technology standards to better focus resources on those that facilitate health information exchange.

Farmers Insurance Group of Cos. announced the appointment of Todd Brooks to VP of eastern growth markets.

In the truest “gift that keeps on giving” sense of the phrase, health insurers are taking advantage of the gift-giving season to help members achieve healthy outcomes. Promoted as stocking stuffers at various drug stores, health insurance gift cards can be used to pay bills and insurance premiums or for specific services at eye doctors and dentist offices.

After days of procural votes, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act finally passed in the Senate early Thursday morning by a margin of 60-39. The sweeping reform legislation now moves to a conference committee where Senate and House negotiators will forge a single bill that each chamber must once more vote on before sending it on to the President for final passage.

A.M. Best , Fitch Ratings, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s (S&P) released ratings updates. The following are some of the most recent:

Private U.S. property and casualty insurers’ net income after taxes rose to $16.2 billion through nine-months 2009, partially recovering from the 91.2 decline to $4.4 billion through nine-months 2008 from $49.6 billion through nine-months 2007. Insurers’ overall profitability as measured by their annualized rate of return on average policyholders’ surplus (or statutory net worth) increased to 4.5 in the first nine months of 2009, having previously fallen to 1.2 in the first nine months of 2008 from 13.1 in the first nine months of 2007.

National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL) is expressing grave concerns with a proposal by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) to form a commission intended to work alongside a future federal insurance regulator.

With the program set to expire at year’s end, President Obama has signed the latest in a series of temporary extensions to the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) into law.

It’s a given that the strains of the financial crisis have been felt by insurers involved in almost all lines of business. Like many industries, this strain has played out downstream, with policyholders mindful and concerned about the ebb and flow of mergers and acquisitions, insurance carriers and agents that go out of business, and more.

Across categories, 66% of claimants who give their carriers high satisfaction scores will renew their policies, but only 49% who give carriers low satisfaction scores plan to renew.

Reports today say CEO Benmosche has quashed the Chartis IPO; says P&C unit is a core holding.