Politicians, bureaucrats and industry associations kept our D.C. bureau chief, Arthur D. Postal, plenty busy in 2011. Here are his encapsulated reports on the quartet of congressional stories that mattered most this past yearand which will continue to be newsmakers in 2012.

The following is a list of advertisers appearing in AA&B during 2011. Numbers in parentheses after the name of an advertiser means its product is only available in certain parts of the country. Please check the map to determine where.

Accenture's new comprehensive integrated P&C software suite enables insurers to reduce their implementation time and risk, while improving the accuracy of both claims handling and underwriting.

Florida E&S Lines: Premium / Policy CountOctober: $69,521,719 / 13,494Commercial PropertySeptember :$70,026,902 / 13,101October: $32,238,240…

Insurance rating agency A.M. Best Co. says the ratings of Transatlantic Holdings and Alleghany Corp. and their subsidiaries remain unchanged following the companies agreement to merge.

Labor market study projects insurance IT departments to lead the industry in new hires.

To hear how some of the countrys top-performing independent commercial agencies are dealing with todays tough competitive environment, we invited the three winners of the National Underwriter/American Agent & Broker Commercial Agency of the Year Awards to a roundtable in New York where they could share their insightsand some of...

Readeers comment on articles in the September and October issues.