INSURANCE NEWS
RT Specialty’s Austenfeld Elected WSIA President
Brenda (Ballard) Austenfeld was elected to serve as 2024-2025 Wholesale & Specialty Insurance Association (WSIA) president Austenfeld, CEO and president of RT Specialty’s national property practice, was chosen by membership at the organization’s annual business meeting earlier this month. She …
Subpoenas on Maui Agencies and Officials Delay Release of Key Report into Deadly Wildfire
Hawaii’s attorney general blamed a delay of the release of a key report into a deadly Maui wildfire on county agencies that forced investigators to issue subpoenas. The first phase of an independent investigation into the Aug. 8 fire that …
Internet Firms Must Face Defective Product Liability Suit Over Buffalo Mass Shooting
A New York state judge has allowed a case seeking to hold social media companies liable in the tragic mass killing at a Buffalo supermarket in 2022 to go forward on grounds of product liability. Erie County Supreme Court Judge …
Florida Jewish Center Burned by Arsonist But Police Say It’s Not a Hate Crime
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A South Florida Jewish center suffered severe damage in a weekend arson fire that police believe was set by a mentally ill homeless man who previously confronted the rabbi and others. Rabbi Chaim Slavaticki said …
People Moves: Sompo Promotes Allen as CUO of Global Markets Commercial P&C Insurance, Succeeding Easton; BMS Taps Howden’s Leahy as Cyber Practice Co-Leader
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at re/insurer Sompo and the re/insurance broker BMS. A summary of these new hires follows here. Sompo Promotes Allen as CUO of Global Markets Commercial P&C Insurance, Succeeding Easton Sompo, the provider …
UK’s Ardonagh to Acquire Independent Italian Insurance Broker Mediass
The Ardonagh Group, the London-based independent insurance distribution platform, announced it has agreed to acquire Mediass, an independent Italian insurance broker company. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Based in Pescara, in the Abruzzo region, Mediass serves more …
Tokio Marine Has $10 Billion for Potential Acquisitions: Executive
Tokio Marine could potentially spend around $10 billion on overseas acquisitions and is patiently tracking public companies around the world, the co-head of the Japanese insurer’s expanding international business told Reuters. Tokio Marine’s international business has grown to more than …
Climate Change Speeds Up as Major Indicators Blow Off the Charts, WMO Warns
All the major indicators of climate change smashed historic records last year, with some rising so steeply that the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organization warned they were “off the charts.” The lives of millions of people were upended by natural …
Iowa Agrees to Speed Up Access to Civil Court Cases
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The state of Iowa will provide “contemporaneous” access to newly filed civil court cases to settle a lawsuit that accused the state of violating the First Amendment by delaying access to those filings, the Des …
Vale Faces $3.8 Billion Claim in Dutch Case Over Mariana Dam Break in Brazil
Victims of the 2015 Mariana dam break in Brazil are seeking about 3 billion pounds ($3.8 billion) in compensation from mining companies Vale and Samarco in a new lawsuit launched in the Netherlands, their lawyers said on Tuesday. The compensation …
Marsh: Transactional Risk Insurance ‘Remained Resilient’ in 2023
Despite a drop in the total number of global mergers and acquisitions, demand for transactional risk insurance “remained resilient” in 2023, Marsh announced in its annual transactional risk report. Data from the Institute for Mergers, Acquisitions & Alliances showed 39,603 …
Loan Deadline Looms for China Life Canary Wharf Tower
China Life Insurance Co. is in crunch talks with lenders to an office tower in Canary Wharf to help stave off the locality’s third potential major default, as the eastern financial district of London grapples with some of the city’s …