Update: Baltimore Reaches Opioid Litigation Settlements with Teva and Walgreens
Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott announced yesterday that one week before a trial is to begin, the city reached an $80 million settlement with Teva Pharmaceuticals to resolve the city’s claims over the firm’s role in fueling Baltimore’s opioid epidemic. …
Toxic Debris from Hawaii Wildfire Could Fill 5 Football Fields 5 Stories Deep
Hinano Rodrigues remembers being 4 or 5 years old, carrying a bucket across a highway to the ocean in the Maui community where he still lives. At dawn, he would accompany his grandmother to a reef at low tide, where …
Wynn Resorts Paying $130M for Letting Illegal Money Reach Gamblers at Vegas Casino
Casino company Wynn Resorts Ltd. has agreed to pay $130 million to federal authorities and admit that it let unlicensed money transfer businesses around the world funnel funds to gamblers at its flagship Las Vegas Strip property. The publicly traded …
Markets/Coverages: PURE Heads to Canada to Cover HNW Homes
Privilege Underwriters Reciprocal Exchange (PURE) is for the first time going international with an expansion into Canada. The reciprocal exchange will start serving high net worth clients in Ontario with homeowners insurance through select brokers. Future products include automobile coverage …
Tropical Storm Francine Strengthens, Spurring Oil Shutdowns
Tropical Storm Francine strengthened as it moved north in the Gulf of Mexico, prompting oil drillers to evacuate crews and halt some offshore crude production, while the US Coast Guard warned shippers of approaching gale-force winds. Francine is expected to …
Louisiana Launches Lottery System for Fortify Homes Program Grants
The Louisiana Department of Insurance announced that registration for the next round of Louisiana Fortify Homes Program (LFHP) grants will open at 8 a.m. on Wednesday, September 18, and close at 5 p.m. on Friday, September 20. While previous grant …
Contractor Agrees to Iowa Consent Order Regarding Unlicensed Public Adjusting
The Iowa Insurance Division entered into a consent order with a Midwest roofing contractor on Sept. 5 following a June cease and desist order against contractors acting as unlicensed public adjusters. IID alleges that AmeriPro Roofing solicited business to Greenfield, …
Drought Shrivels the Mississippi River and Threatens to Disrupt US Food Exports
Drought across the central US is shrinking the Mississippi River, sending barge rates soaring and threatening to roil shipments of everything from corn to gasoline. Dry conditions across the Ohio River basin, which feeds the Mississippi, have worsened already low …
London’s ExCel Centre Wins Insurance Appeal Over COVID-19 Losses
The owners of London’s ExCel conference center on Friday won an appeal brought by insurers, including Allianz, over pandemic-related losses, which its lawyers said could help thousands of other policyholders. London International Exhibition Centre Plc took legal action at London’s …
Collision Between Jail Transport Van and Vehicle Injures 19 in Illinois
ROUND LAKE, Ill. (AP) — Nineteen people have been hurt after a jail transport van collided Wednesday with another vehicle and struck a pole in northeastern Illinois. Sixteen prisoners were in the van that was traveling to the McHenry County …
As Traffic Deaths Remain High, US Awards $1 Billion for Road Safety Projects
The U.S. Transportation Department said on Thursday it is awarding $1 billion for a series of projects aimed at reducing traffic crashes, as road deaths remain sharply higher than pre-pandemic levels. The department separately on Thursday estimated that 18,720 people …
Blue to Become CEO of Alera Group in 2025
Alera Group said its president, Jim Blue, will become the firm’s chief executive officer, effective January 1, 2025. Blue will succeed Alan Levitz, who will become Alera Group’s Executive Chairman. Levitz’ focus will include identifying strategic partners to help advance …
New Mississippi Lawsuit Names Pharmacy Benefits Managers for Opioid Epidemic
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — The state of Mississippi is suing drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers alleging that opioids were over-prescribed. Attorney General Lynn Fitch, a Republican, filed the suit Thursday in Hinds County Chancery Court in the state capital …
Fitch Ratings Shifts Global Re Outlook to Neutral; Pricing Past Peak
Fitch Ratings announced that it shifted its outlook on the global reinsurance sector to neutral yesterday but the downward shift came with an expectation of continued profitability—and a forecasted combined ratio around 90 in 2025. The revision—from a prior outlook …
Workers at GM/LG Battery Plant in Tennessee Join UAW and Get Big Pay Raise
DETROIT (AP) — About 1,000 workers at a General Motors joint venture electric vehicle battery plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, will get big pay raises now that they have joined the United Auto Workers union. GM and LG Energy Solution …
Germany Cracks Down on China Green Fraud in Deepening Scandal
German authorities have rejected €18 million ($20 million) worth of carbon credits after finding “irregularities” in China-based projects that were meant to lower emissions. The initiatives, which were run by big international corporations and audited by European firms, allowed German …
Major Book Publishers Defeat Internet Archive Appeal Over Digital Scanning
A U.S. appeals court sided with four major book publishers that accused the nonprofit Internet Archive of illegally scanning copyrighted works and lending them to the public online for free and without permission. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals …
Update: NYC’s Largest Cab Insurer Ordered to Explore Sale After Losses
New York’s insurance regulator ordered American Transit Insurance Co. to immediately find capital and explore a sale in a damning report laying out its severe financial condition. The report laid out dozens of potential financial improprieties and accounting problems at …
Ex-CFO Says Royal Bank of Canada Manufactured Workplace-Romance Case
Royal Bank of Canada’s former chief financial officer, fired over allegations she had an undisclosed personal relationship with another executive, said the bank was trying to “manufacture” a reason to get rid of her, as both sides double down in …
Hard Market ‘Supercycle’ Likely to Be Prolonged: Lloyd’s CEO Neal
Now that the market has achieved a first-half profit of £4.9 billion with a combined ratio of 83.7—its best interim results in 17 years—does this mean the hard market cycle is ending? During a media briefing to discuss Lloyd’s results, …