Texas Pecan Farmers Fight to Save Water Supply
FORT STOCKTON — Zachary Swick plucked a pecan from one of the 78,000 trees at a sprawling West Texas farm — a rare sight in the desert known for oil rigs and pump jacks. He peeled away the pecan’s layers, …
Texas Assisted Living Facility Fined for Firing Nurse With Sleep Disorder
VibraLife of Katy, LLC, a rehabilitation and assisted living facility in Katy, Texas, will pay $80,000 and furnish other relief to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) disability discrimination and retaliation lawsuit, the federal agency announced today. According …
Ed Sheeran Beats Copyright Appeal Over ‘Thinking Out Loud’ Song
Ed Sheeran, his record label Warner Music WMG.O and music publisher Sony Music Publishing 6758.T persuaded a U.S. appeals court on Friday to uphold a decision that his 2014 hit “Thinking Out Loud” did not illegally copy Marvin Gaye’s 1973 …
Regional Banks With Florida Operations Brace for Loan Defaults After Hurricanes
Several regional lenders allocated loan-loss provisions in the third quarter to cover potential defaults by borrowers grappling with recent hurricanes, primarily in Florida, highlighting the risks extreme weather and climate change pose to banks. Two devastating hurricanes struck the Sunshine …
KBRA Says Florida Insurers Will Weather the Storms; Cat Fund Can Handle Payouts
Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund, a state-created layer of reinsurance, expects to pay out about $4.6 billion to help cover insurers’ losses in Hurricanes Helene and Milton. But that won’t trigger a surcharge on premiums. And a number of Florida property …
Allstate Says It’s Ready to Grow Homeowners Line With All 3 Distribution Channels
Allstate said it sees opportunity where others may not — in homeowners insurance. And the insurer plans to use all three distribution channels to do it. Due to rising trends in the frequency and severity of weather-related losses and in …
Retrial Begins in Civil Suit Against Contractor Accused in Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal
A military contractor accused of contributing to the abuse of detainees at Iraq’s Abu Ghraib prison two decades ago is again on trial in a federal courtroom after a long-awaited civil case earlier this year ended with a hung jury. …
Global Reinsurers’ ROE Jumps to 22% in 2023, but Market Softening Unlikely: AM Best
AM Best’s population of global reinsurance companies posted a return on equity (ROE) of 22% in 2023 – a five-year high that was driven mainly by favorable investment income and strong underwriting performance. The fundamentals are excellent, but Hurricanes Helene …
Markets/Coverages: IQUW Launches Financial Institutions Product in Australia
IQUW, the London-based property and specialty re/insurer, has announced that its financial institutions (FI) product, FortiFI, has launched new wording for the Australian insurance market. Launched in the US earlier this year, FortiFI is one of the only fully end-to-end …
Ardonagh Advisory Agrees to Acquire Rowett Insurance Broking in UK
Ardonagh Advisory announced it has agreed to acquire Rowett Insurance Broking Ltd. in the UK. Rowett specializes in commercial, and personal insurance from its offices in St. Austell and Plymouth, England. Its subsidiary company, AGRi Insurance Facilities Ltd., specializes in …
Ryan Specialty in Discussions to Acquire UK’s Innovisk Capital Partners
Ryan Specialty, the Chicago-based specialty insurance services firm, announced it is in final discussions to acquire Innovisk Capital Partners from Abry Partners and BHMS Investments LP. As a result of the acquisition, Innovisk would become a part of Ryan Specialty …
Kremlin Says Google Should Lift YouTube Block on Russian Broadcasters
The Kremlin said on Thursday that Alphabet’s Google should lift its block on Russian TV channels broadcasting on YouTube and said it hoped huge legal claims racking up against the U.S.-based company would jolt it into action. Google stopped serving …
Bain-Backed Motor Insurer Esure Draws Interest from Aviva, Allianz
Aviva Plc and Allianz SE are among potential bidders for Britain’s home and motor insurance firm Esure Group Plc, according to people familiar with the matter. Sampo Oyj, which owns British general insurer Hastings Group, and Belgium-based Ageas have also …
People Moves: Marsh Promotes Lang, Aronson, Rouse in Placement Strategy; Chubb Expands Merna’s Role to Include Multinational Clients
Marsh Makes Global Senior Leadership Appointments Marsh, a business of Marsh McLennan, named Christopher Lang as digital leader, Marsh Specialty and Global Placement. In this newly created role, Lang leads Marsh’s digital global insurance placement strategy. Lang has spent the …
Deadly Spain Floods Show Difficulty of Adapting to Intense Rains
Floods that killed more than 150 people in eastern Spain this week were caused by a storm that dumped a year’s worth of rainfall in less than 24 hours. The tragedy has raised questions about whether earlier warnings could have …
Purdue Pharma Nears New Bankruptcy Deal With Sacklers, Mediator Says
Purdue Pharma is close to a new bankruptcy settlement with its owners, members of the wealthy Sackler family, and state and local governments that have filed lawsuits alleging that its painkiller OxyContin spurred a deadly opioid-addiction crisis in the U.S., …
Abbott, Reckitt Score First Victory in Baby Formula Trial
Abbott Laboratories and a unit of Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc were cleared by a jury over claims they hid risks their premature-infant formulas can cause a bowel disease that severely sickened a baby boy. It was the companies’ first trial …
Companies Are Dropping the D or E From DEI to Avoid Criticism
After a backlash against DEI programs by conservative activists, a majority of executives in a new survey said that their companies have changed how the initiatives are described with reduced emphasis on racial diversity. Among more than 60 executives, slightly …
Insurer Not Liable if Bank Improperly Cashes Insurance Check, Appeals Court Finds
Insurance carriers are not responsible if a bank improperly cashes a check made out to two insureds and gives the proceeds to only one of them, a federal appeals court decided this week. The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals …
Delos in California Secures Another $9M Funding
Property insurance managing general agent Delos Insurance Solutions said it has raised $9 million through a Series A funding round led by HSBC Asset Management and includes IA Capital Group, Blue Bear Capital and Generation Space along with angel investors. …
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