Washington – Legislation introduced in the House aimed at revamping the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) is garnering praise. H.R. 3959, sponsored by Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.) and Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), proposes to gradually phase out some of the subsidies in the program.

Washington - A notice published in the Federal Register seeking comments for a broad Treasury Department review of financial regulation is biased in favor of federal regulation of insurance and foreign business entities, according to the Alexandria, Va.-based National Association of Professional Insurance Agents (PIA).The specifics of the Nov. 11, 2007 published notice "raise critical concerns about the direction, purpose and intent of the review process itself, concerns we are compelled to address directly to you at this time," states PIA in a letter to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

Washington — The Office of Management and Budget has released a "statement of administration policy" threatening a presidential veto of legislation aimed at extending the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA).

Washington — Insurance industry associations are giving mostly favorable reviews to the passage of H.R. 2761, legislation that would extend and expand the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA). The bill, which passed the lower chamber yesterday by a vote of 312-110, aims to extend TRIA for 15 years, and expand the number of lines covered within it.

Needham, Mass. — A new research report from TowerGroup Inc. says insurers should go above and beyond current regulatory requirements when dealing with the issue of annuity suitability.

Washington — The heads of two insurance industry associations have issued a joint letter urging the National Governor's Association to drop their opposition to the National Insurance Act.

Washington — The need to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) is only having a minimal effect on enterprise risk management (ERM), new research has found.

New York – New York Life Insurance Co. promoted Richard Eppink, Jr. to vice president in the Special Markets Department, reporting to first vice president Victoria Buhrow. Eppink is now responsible for developing and executing strategic direct marketing plans for the AARP Lifetime Income Program, New York Life's Tampa-based operation which markets and administers income annuity products to AARP members. Eppink joined New York Life in 1999 as an assistant vice president of marketing with the AARP Life Insurance Program, and was promoted to corporate vice president in 2002.

Armonk, N.Y. and Ottawa - IBM and Cognos have entered into a definitive agreement for IBM to acquire Cognos, a publicly held company based in Ottawa, in an all-cash transaction at a price of approximately $5 billion or $58 per share, with a net transaction value of $4.9 billion. The acquisition is subject to Cognos shareholder approval, regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. It is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.The acquisition of Cognos supports IBM's Information on Demand strategy, a cross-company initiative announced on Feb. 16, 2006 that combines IBM's strength in information integration, content and data management and business consulting services to unlock the business value of information, according to IBM. Integrating Cognos, the 23rd IBM acquisition in support of its Information on Demand strategy, will enable new business insights to be delivered to a broader set of people across an organization, beyond the traditional users of business intelligence.

Schaumburg, Ill. – News reports of poison toothpaste and lead-laced toys have not just caught the attention of consumers. The nation’s importers, and the commercial lines writers who serve them, are keenly aware of the dire implications of unsafe products.

Boston — Karen Clark, previously of Applied Insurance Research, is now providing comprehensive reviews of company internal catastrophe risk assessment and management processes. The independent reviews, provided by Boston-based Karen Clark & Co., her newest company, are designed to help companies ensure they have in place holistic risk management processes that comply with best practices. Holistic risk management practices incorporate independent benchmarks and metrics to assess the quality of catastrophe model input and output.

XSELL RELEASES INSURANCE FRAMEWORX PLATFORMXSell LLC, a Jacksonville, Fla., provider of on-demand marketing solutions, released XSell's Insurance FrameworX, a version of its Web-based Customer Interaction Marketing platform.

London - Risk Management Solutions Inc. (RMS), a Newark , Calif. , provider of products and services for catastrophe risk management, launched a new initiative among six of Lloyd's largest managing agents this week designed to change the way exposure data is used in the London Market. The RMS London Market Data Community gives members access to data that has been standardized for use among the members. Data is prepared once by the RMS Data Cleansing Team, and then made available to the community, saving subscribers the time and money involved in preparing the information individually.

Chicago – Citing increased competition and falling rates, insurance brokerage Aon Corp., said yesterday that it will cut 2,700 jobs, or approximately 6% of its workforce, as part of a restructuring plan.The broker made the announcement as part of its release of its 3rd quarter financial results.

Armonk, N.Y. – In the past three years, 62% of enterprises with more than $5 billion in revenue encountered a major risk event, and 42% of these enterprises were not well prepared for the event, according to a study of more than 1,200 chief financial officers (CFOs) and senior finance executives from 79 countries worldwide. The study, from IBM, concludes that a surprising number of enterprises are not well prepared to handle the impact of a major risk event to their organization.

New York - Guy Carpenter & Co. LLC, a global risk and reinsurance specialist and a part of the Marsh & McLennan Cos., expanded its award-winning, Web-enabled i-aXs data management platform to include both workers' compensation and accident and health lines.

Washington — A vote in the Senate, coupled with signs of capitulation by the Bush Administration, has paved the way for an extension of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA).

Reston, Va.–Insurance regulators in eight states have granted written recognition to the straight-through processing (STP) standards initiative of NAVA, the Association for Insured Retirement Solutions.

WASHINGTON — The practice of insurers basing auto insurance premiums on a customer's credit rating was questioned at a House hearing yesterday, with critics asking whether it disproportionately hurts young people and minorities.

Washington — A subgroup of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) is drafting a proposal to amend the existing regulatory framework to allow for single-state licensing of U.S. reinsurers, the insurance body reports. NAIC's Reinsurance Task Force is encouraging the NAIC to develop a reinsurance supervision review department (RSRD) to comprehensively modernize reinsurance regulation in the United States. "As state insurance regulators look at enhancements to reinsurance regulation in the United States," said NAIC President and Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter Bell, "we are encouraged by supervisory developments in non-U.S. jurisdictions where robust regulation of reinsurance has recently been introduced." In the European Union, for example, member states are in the process of implementing a new reinsurance directive. The NAIC's reinsurance proposal could ultimately provide a framework for mutual recognition between the U.S. and non-U.S. jurisdictions. The RSRD would assist in the evaluation of the extent to which non-U.S. jurisdictions apply regulatory oversight that is "functionally equivalent" to U.S. regulation. Under the proposal, non-U.S. reinsurers domiciled in "functionally equivalent" jurisdictions would be allowed to access the entire U.S. market through a single port of entry state. "U.S. regulators believe that a reinsurance regulatory framework also must be sufficiently flexible to accommodate the rapidly changing reinsurance environment, while providing for appropriate levels of financial stability, solvency and predictability that are critical to a vigorous market, consumer protection and a strong and secure insurance regulatory system," Bell added. NAIC's Task Force will discuss this proposal during a meeting Nov. 7-8, 2007, held in conjunction with the NAIC Financial Summit in Atlanta. For more information, visit www.naic.org/committees_e_reinsurance.htm. Source: National Association of Insurance Commissioners