E&S/Specialty

The U.S. Supreme Court's decision earlier this month, that a company must show intent to dispose of chemicals to be liable as an "arranger" under the "Superfund Law," could benefit corporations caught up in potential liabilities under that statute.

Companies are cutting back on sending individuals overseas for business, which is affecting the international market.

Last Thursday, Reps. Dennis Moore, D-Kan., and Scott Garrett, R-NJ, introduced legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives modernizing and reforming regulation of the surplus lines (nonadmitted) market.

Wholesale brokers are in a prime position to grab new business when a revived economy begins producing start-up companies that standard line carriers won't insure, a trade group leader advised here.

Insurers should choose who will regulate them--unless they are so big and widespread that only federal oversight will do the trick, magazine publisher and former Republican presidential candidate Steve Forbes told an industry conference here.

A first-quarter jump of 38 percent in securities cases is worrisome to insurers of directors and officers named as defendants in such cases, but the pace of filings could slow, a research firm said.