Security risk

Reston , Va. — NAVA, the association for insured retirement solutions, is praising the selection of former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Mary Schapiro to lead the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Indianapolis — California insurance consumers and the state’s economy could be severely harmed if proposed changes are made to the state’s insurance rate approval structure. That was the message delivered in written comments to California insurance officials last week by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC).

Chicago — Taking a step toward putting its financial house in order, New York-based American International Group (AIG) has sold its specialty insurance subsidiary HSB Group to Munich Re for $742 million in cash. The transaction marks the first major divestiture for beleaguered AIG after it agreed to accept a bailout from the U.S. Treasury.

Zurich, Switzerland — Acknowledging the need to improve its capital position, insurance giant Swiss Re has secured $1.5 billion in loans from New York-based JP Morgan. The insurer says the loan will guarantee it access to financing at competitive rates for years to come.

Currently, Rob Howard is Farmers’ AVP, national auto physical damage operations.

MGAs and wholesale brokers see opportunities to apply more of the technologies that the standard market is implementing, such as the ACORD XML electronic standards, Real Time workflows and the use of ACORD forms.

Karen Clark tells INN that insurers should not rely solely on near-term catastrophe modeling in light of overestimating the previous three hurricane seasons.

Retiring Sen. Hagel sat down with an INN sister publication, to discuss his tenure and the future of financial services, of which includes the possible federal charter.

A survey from Application Security Inc. finds that nearly 60% of organizations keep the majority of confidential data in databases, with 56% having had a data breach in the past year.

The controversial rule, which has a two-year grace period before taking effect, will consider indexed annuities as securities.

The New York State Insurance Commissioner believes several agencies could each oversee a portion of the derivatives market.

Munich Re and Risk Management Solutions (RMS) seek to identify and pursue shared research priorities for new and emerging sources of risk, as well as risk areas that continue to present challenges in modeling.

The goal of the partnerships is to enhance its business intelligence and integration solutions and increase its breadth of expertise and specialized knowledge, says the company.

As documented in a recent report, more than half of states score seven or lower out of 10 on key indicators that assess health emergency preparedness.

The open meeting will enable comment on proposed plan to regulate annuities as securities.

Senate Finance Committee releases draft of proposed changes to the tax code.

The company will pay a $25 million fine to atone for improper accounting practices at former reinsurance unit.

AssureNET GL 4.1 is designed to provide increased management oversight and reduced costs through higher levels of automation.

Figure less than the 2008 season, but higher than previously predicted.

The financial services meltdown may pressure a new congress and new administration to revamp how the insurance industry is regulated.