Agency Management

After an unexpected second-quarter dip, securities lawsuit filings shot back up in the third quarter.

Even though securities suits related to the Madoff Ponzi scheme and the credit crisis trailed off in third-quarter 2009, financial firms were still the leading type of company sued with one-third of the cases filed, a research firm reported.

They're located in Canada, Florida and a Mississippi Gulf Coast town still reeling from Hurricane Katrina. They have as few as 10 employees and as many as 250.

In a time of increasing uncertainty for benefits plan fiduciaries, greater focus on the terms and conditions of fiduciary liability insurance policies is of paramount importance, a brokerage expert believes.

Many small-cap companies--those with the lowest levels of market capitalization--are currently facing a Catch-22 situation that impacts members of their boards of directors.

Insurance agents are voicing dismay over health care reform legislation passed by the House late Saturday, and are hopeful that a more acceptable product can be produced by the Senate.