Acton, Mass. - CCH Insurance Services, a part of Wolters Kluwer Corporate & Financial Services division, has launched a new micro site summarizing regulatory compliance information for insurers responding to catastrophe in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The web site, located at www.insurance.cch.com/katrina is free of charge as a public service to insurers."Affected states are now issuing requirements and other directives specifically related to this catastrophe," says Joe Bieniek, compliance manager for CCH Insurance Services. "We want to provide insurers with a resource that will help them easily determine what is required in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi so they can respond to claims quickly, avoid confusion, and maintain compliance."

Nearly a year has passed since New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer charged insurance brokerage firm Marsh & McLennan with rigging bids to maximize its commissions with insurance carriers.Allegations against Aon, AIG, ACE and other brokers and insurers followed-and within weeks, the country's largest insurance brokers-Marsh, Aon and Arthur J. Gallagher-as well as AIG and ACE had ceased the practice of accepting (or paying) contingent commissions.

March 2002: Upset about the size of his annual bonus, a global financial services employee planted a "logic bomb" that deleted 10 billion customer records. The incident affected more than 1,300 of the company's servers throughout the United States. The company sustained losses of approximately $3 million-the amount required to repair damage and reconstruct deleted files.

Kansas City, Mo - The officers and members of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) have decided to cancel the Fall National Meeting, which was scheduled for September 10-13 in New Orleans. Approximately 1,500 insurance regulators, industry representatives and interested parties had registered to attend the conference.

Hartford, Conn. - Specialty Risk Services LLC (SRS), a property-casualty third party administrator for workers' compensation and general liability claims, is offering its clients access to a suite of tools to monitor their program's performance on its newly redesigned Web site.In SRS' password-protected Employer's Toolbox, clients have secure access to resources, including industry statistics, employee training materials, libraries of legislative and industry updates, loss control and safety tips, and links to national and industry Web sites.

Hinsdale, Ill. - In the past few years, organizations with contact centers have been at risk of a multi-million dollar exposure due to a phenomenon known as Katz telecom licensing fees. To help educate enterprises regarding their options in this area the Opus Group LLP, an operational performance management firm has published a white paper that describes the benefits of performing a telecom operational analysis after receiving a so-called "Katz letter."Ronald A. Katz telecom licensing fees are assessed for the use of technologies covered under a variety of patents. Most of these patents cover technology that ties telephone and online/computer equipment together, a practice that is almost universal in today's contact centers. The Katz letter estimates the fees owed based on public records and standard industry practices. Until now, organizations have had to choose whether to pay the fees as stated or fight them in court. To date, according to a research note from Saddletree Research analyst Paul Stockford, the Katz organization has never lost a case.

Kennesaw, Ga.--MicroBilt Corp., a provider of decision critical data, and credit industry veteran and attorney Oscar Marquis have formed a joint venture. Called ComplyTraq LLC, the new company will provide Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) compliance, credentialing, audit and training services to the credit and data industries.The joint venture is being formed to serve the growing need for compliance and auditing in an industry that is under increasing pressure from state and federal regulation related to the use of personal information. Through the combined experience of the principals and as regulation increases, the joint venture will assist organizations with compliance and auditing and will guarantee its services, backed by an insurance policy issued by Lloyd's of London.

Washington, D.C. - There is a clear economic case for structural changes in insurance regulation, namely an optional federal charter (OFC), that could benefit both consumers and life insurers, according to a study conducted by the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI), Washington, D.C., and Computer Sciences Corporation, El Segundo, Calif.

In one corner, a number of professional organizations support federal regulation of the insurance industry. And, on the opposite side of the ring, other groups support state oversight. The debate over state and federal regulatory control seems to have resurfaced, and a host of parties affected are gearing up for the battle.Some insurance carriers, however, are asking: Does it really matter who's standing when all is said and done? Many insurers simply recognize that there is a need for regulatory reform -and where that control lies is of secondary concern, according to Dick Luedke, spokesperson for State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Co., Bloomington, Ill.

New York - More than 90% of risk management executives are building or want to build enterprise risk management (ERM) processes into their organizations, but only 11% have completed such a task, according to a recent report issued by New York-based The Conference Board. The Board, in conjunction with Mercer Oliver Wyman, a New York financial consulting firm, surveyed 271 risk management executives from a variety of industries across North America and Europe.

Washingon, D. C. - Members of the PIA Insurance Technology Coalition met with Congressional staffers on Capitol this week to discuss data security/identity theft and its potential effect on the insurance industry.

Brookfield, Wis., - Fiserv, Inc., a financial management and compliance software provider, released a software system designed to be compliant with the Sarbanes Oxley Act. The Nautilus SOX solution is a tool that uses document management technology for enterprise-wide compliance with the 2002 federal legislation, and similar provisions that the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is expected to embrace for non-public insurers. The software provides an automated, searchable system for documenting internal controls and business processes to help ensure SOX compliance. With Nautilus SOX, users can create, collaborate, log, execute and conclude business transactions in a structured, efficient environment. It also provides users immediate access information regarding a process or project, including all outstanding issues, approvals, statuses, discussions and communications. The system's framework of pre-defined indexes and templates enables users to monitor and record all external and internal events affecting SOX compliance--from risk assessment to controls testing and remediation. Notifications and scheduled reviews can be set up to ensure that important deadlines are met, and the system can automatically route content between collaborating participants.

Springfield, Mass. - MassMutual Financial Group, Springfield, Mass., announced the acquisition of New York-based Golden Retirement Resources Inc., (GRR) a privately held firm that develops and distributes products and services for the retirement-income market. Comprising member companies with more than $350 billion in assets, MassMutual Financial Group is a global, diversified financial services organization providing life insurance, annuities, disability income insurance, long-term care insurance, retirement planning products, structured settlement annuities, trust services, money management, and other financial products and services. Under the transaction, MassMutual Holding, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance (MassMutual) purchased a majority interest in GRR (including all intellectual property), and intends to own the entire company by year-end. No financial terms were disclosed.

Salt Lake City - GE Healthcare, a $14 billion unit of General Electric Company that is headquartered in the United Kingdom, and Intermountain Health Care, a Salt Lake City-based integrated health care system, announced the organizations' joint project to develop a new advanced electronic medication administration record, also known as an eMAR, which will better enable collaboration among a patient's care team.

Over the past three years, publicly held companies in the insurance industry have become painfully familiar with the stringent requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) corporate governance law.A senior-level executive with Chicago-based global brokerage firm Aon Inc., confirmed that the company's audit fees skyrocketed 53%, from $10 million in 2003 to $15.3 million in 2004. And, with annual revenue of $800 million and income of approximately $73 million, RLI Corp., a Peoria, Ill.-based specialty insurer, absorbed Section 404 compliance costs last year of $1.9 million.

The Insurance Accounting & Systems Association (IASA), Durham, N.C., announced today that their members have elected Mark Robison as president for the fiscal year that will begin on July 1, 2005. Robison has risen through the ranks of IASA holding various management team, leadership and volunteer positions within the association during his many years of volunteering. Currently, he serves as vice president and treasurer of Brotherhood Mutual Insurance Company, a Fort Wayne, Ind., a niche regional P&C carrier insuring America's churches and related ministries. Robison joined Brotherhood in January, 1994. Prior to joining Brotherhood, he worked as a manager for Ernst & Young, LLP serving insurance clients, and also within the firm's information systems consulting practice. Robison is a Certified Public Accountant, a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter, a Fellow, Life Management Institute and holds the Associate in Insurance Accounting and Finance designation from the Insurance Institute of America.

Washington - The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (TRIA), a temporary program introduced after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, has served its purpose and is probably stunting the development of the private insurance market, Treasury Secretary John Snow wrote in a letter to the Senate Banking Committee summarizing the agency's conclusions regarding TRIA.

Chicago - The third annual study conducted by Chicago-based Foley & Lardner LLP on the costs associated with corporate governance reform shows that the average cost of being public in 2004 increased 33 percent over 2003 for a company with annual revenue under $1 billion.

Washington - The Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America, Alexandria, Va., says a proposal to establish an optional federal charter for insurance regulation is not the "best or right solution for regulatory reform in the industry." The association of 300,000 business owners reacted yesterday to a letter sent by 135 insurance, national and regional finance companies to the Senate Banking Committee in support of a charter. "The lack of a federal insurance regulator is especially troublesome," the letter stated. The group asked the Committee to consider the fact that, because insurance is solely regulated by the individual states, "there is no Federal regulatory agency to represent the financial regulatory interests of the U.S. insurance industry."

Oakland, Calif.-A review of hurricane trends by EQECAT Inc. shows a more than a one in three chance of large hurricane catastrophe losses in the United States in the current season, based on current forecasts by the National Hurricane Center (NHC)."Although the current season might not be as severe and unusual as the 2004 season, the potential for large losses in 2005 is likely to be troubling to insurers and reinsurers, which will have to cover the potential hurricane damage claims," says Tom Larsen, senior vice president of EQECAT.