Security risk

After quakes in Haiti and Chile, institute calls for stricter building codes in the United States.

Fitch and Moody’s react to AIG’s fourth quarter results, and A.M. Best affirms Tokio Marine Pacific Insurance’s ratings.

A Lloyd's of London syndicate follows CUNA Mutual in trying to escape liability in a massive mortgage fraud case.

Preparatory work to achieve a business/IT consensus can pay dividends when carriers embark on standards initiatives.

A new report looks at the special accounting considerations insurers must make, and asks whether insurance needs its own accounting model.

The federal government seems keen on developing commercial space flight technologies, but how do we insure those who go where very few men have gone before?

Health insurers say legislation is misguided and does not address underlying problems.

Legislation would create powerful new regulator.

Company remains the only major insurance company in the world to offer underwriting through loss prevention engineering.

Against looming regulatory reform, PCI says time is critical to employ a more holistic look at what caused our economic failure, and what did not.

Experts say global response necessary for biggest firms.

Bill seeking to amend McCarran-Ferguson Act now focuses solely on health insurers.

One of the plan's proposals is to adopt real-time analysis of claims and payments data to identify waste, fraud and abuse in health programs.

The Associated Press reported recently that the FBI is investigating a Pennsylvania school district accused of “secretly activating webcams inside students' homes.” The FBI will explore whether Lower Merion School District officials broke any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws by activating the webcams in laptops that the school owns and distributes to students.

Daniel Riordan will assume the role of president of Zurich’s (www.zurichna.com) North America Commercial Specialties business unit, effective immediately. Riordan currently serves as head of Zurich's Surety, Credit and Political Risk group and will be in charge of both units until a replacement is named.

Philadelphia Insurance Cos. (PHLY) has expanded its environmental product offering with the addition of contractor environmental and professional coverage. The product is designed to protect insureds from environmental and professional losses in all aspects of their business.

President Barack Obama laid out the first detailed legislative proposal for health care reforms to the United States’ $2.5 trillion medical care system this morning with an approach that largely follows the Senate’s version of legislation proposed in December.

The Group of North American Insurance Enterprises (GNAIE) executive director Douglas Barnet took to the podium at the 12th Global Conference of Actuaries to rally for the use of earned rate for discounting life insurance contracts.

Just about everyone dreams of making that big splash, that big score or that big impression that catapults themselves into fame, stardom, renown and/or lots of money. Just ask the thousands who waited for days at each of the audition sites for a chance to sing for 20 seconds in front of the American Idol judges.

Ironshore Inc., a provider of specialty commercial property and casualty coverage, announced that its Specialty Casualty division will now offer Employment Practice Liability Insurance (EPLI) for its public entity clientele. The new employer insurance emerged from an announcement earlier this month that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) had received a record number of employment discrimination complaints in the previous year, a trend the EEOC expects to continue to flourish due to the current economic climate.