This week saw another tragic incident for Malaysia Airlines, as flight MH17 appears to have been shot down over the Ukraine. Additionally, the Senate passed its version of TRIA, while the House seems to be set for a longer battle on the issue.

Meanwhile, cyber remains a hot topic for the industry, businesses and regulators alike, and GM has remained in the news as legislators continue to look into the company's massive auto recalls.

Below and on the following pages, see what industry leaders, lawmakers and others had to say about the biggest insurance stories of the week.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed its version of a TRIA extension by a 93-4 vote yesterday, and the bill includes legislation creating the National Association of Registered Agents and Brokers (NARAB). The bill now goes to the House, where NARAB seems to have support, although the terms of a TRIA extension are another story.

Senator Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking minority member of the Senate Banking Committee, said, regarding NARAB: “The idea for NARAB is now 14 years old,” Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking minority member of the Senate Banking Committee, said on thWe've been working on it literally for that long, and I'm hoping that in this legislation today we can get it across the finish line.”

While a TRIA extension sailed through the Senate, the issue is more controversial in the House.

A bill passed by the House Financial Services Committee that would essentially phase out the program after five years except for NCBR attacks is failing to win wider support in the House. Urban and moderate Republicans, such as Rep. Peter King, R-N.Y., have opposed the bill, along with Democrats.

Still, conservative House members, while under pressure from other House representatives as well as the Senate to accept a version closer to the Senate's, appear ready to dig in and fight it out. They have indicated Congress will have to accept a slimmed-down version of the bill this year, no bill at all, or an eight-month extension of the program that would be taken up next year by what they foresee as a Congress where both the House and Senate are controlled by Republicans.

The push for a slimmed-down TRIA is being championed by Reps. Jeb Hensarling and Randy Neugebauer, both R-Texas.

A Neugebauer spokesman said, “Essentially it looks like TRIA's not going to be considered in July.” He added, “The narrative that's being driven is everyone's opposed to our bill and opposed to the process moving forward. That couldn't be further from the truth. We received a tremendous amount of support from stakeholders. …Perhaps they haven't been as vocal.”

Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was apparently shot down over Ukraine on Thursday. As Russia and the Ukraine argue over which side was responsible, Bloomberg reports that Allianz is the lead reinsurer for aviation hull and liability coverage.

Experts with knowledge of the aviation industry say if the plane was indeed shot down, hull loss would be paid by a war-risk policy separate from the standard hull coverage.

Allianz released a statement regarding the incident: “As leading reinsurer of Malaysia Airlines for aviation hull and liability coverage, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty stands by to support our client as fully and quickly as possible. It is much too early to comment on reports of this tragic incident while details are still being confirmed, except to extend our deepest sympathy to all those affected by this crash.”

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) early this week said it will move forward with a review of its corporate governance policies and would be hiring an outside consultant to assist with the process.

The group's Governance Review Task Force authorized the action, and said the review will include a “broad review of the NAIC's organizational structure, committee processes and external engagements.”

The move follows infighting at the NAIC. In a December 2013 letter, Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Tom Leonardi raised a number of governance issues and said the NAIC has a “clumsy, one-sided and fraught process of decision-making.”

Regarding the review process, Adam Hamm, NAIC President and North Dakota Insurance Commissioner, said, “As in past reviews of NAIC governance, we hope the consultant can assist us in facilitating a thorough evaluation and identifying best practices for us to consider,”

As Congress again presses GM over its massive recalls, GM's general counsel Michael Millikin acknowledges lawyers for the company made mistakes. GM has recalled almost 29 million vehicles in the U.S., passing Ford Motor's record in a single calendar year of 23.3 million, according to Bloomberg.

U.S. recalls for all manufacturers stands at 37.5 million, already topping 2004's record of 30.8 million.

In written testimony to the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation subcommittee, Millikin said, “We had lawyers at GM who didn't do their jobs; didn't do what was expected of them. Those lawyers are no longer with the company.”

Commercial-insurance buyers for international construction and some property and casualty coverages are seeing sizable rate reductions through the first half of 2014, thanks to overcapacity in the marketplace.

A Willis Group Holdings report says benign loss activity and a softening global reinsurance market that is having a trickle-down effect in the primary market are pressuring rates.

For international construction, Willis says a reduction in construction projects in many parts of the world has intensified competition. Additionally, insurers are not withdrawing from the market, leaving capacity at an all-time high, creating an environment for more favorable rates for buyers.

The international P&C insurance market is also seeing in influx of capital and pressure on rates.

James Nicholson, head of Broking and Industry Practice Groups for Construction, Property and Casualty at Willis “Our view is that soft-market conditions are likely to continue without necessarily threatening the profitability and solvency of carriers, provided that they actively manage their portfolios. For their part, corporate-insurance buyers can achieve substantially better than average pricing through the provision of good underwriting data, the use of analytics to drive pricing and through strong relationships with carriers. The outlook therefore remains very favorable for corporate buyers and more particularly for the well-informed.”

Security breaches exposing consumers' personal information are becoming larger and increasingly frequent in New York, costing businesses more than $1.37 billion last year, the state attorney general's office said.

A report this week from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman indicated data breaches in the state more than tripled from 2006 to 2013, with almost 5,000 breaches reported to the office by businesses, nonprofits and government entities during that time.

Schneiderman said, “Our expansive look at data breaches found that millions of New Yorkers have been exposed without their knowledge or consent.” He said his office will take a “collaborative approach to address the complex problems surrounding data security.”

Special Reports /

They said what?: Insurance quotes of the week for July 18

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