The impact from the Japan earthquake and tsunami may be felt by reinsurance company stockholders if companies decide to buffer their earnings with a suspension of stock buyback programs, a report from Moody’s says.

The Colorado State University forecast team is lowering its December estimate for the upcoming Atlantic basin hurricane season, but still expects an active season of 16 named storms.

Company estimates continue to roll in for 2011 first-quarter catastrophe losses, led by London-based Amlin plc’s estimate of up to £275 million ($448.7 million at current exchange rate) in claims for the Japan and New Zealand earthquakes as well as Australian flooding.

Florida’s property insurance reform bill SB 408 received approval on April 5 from its final Senate committee. In its wake came a frenzy of negative media coverage.

Florida’s property insurance reform bill SB 408 received approval on April 5 from its final Senate committee. In its wake came a frenzy of negative media coverage.

Chicago-based insurance broker Hub International Ltd. says it has acquired five agencies in Canada.

Civil litigation reforms in the United Kingdom that could reduce legal costs for insurers are credit-positive, says a report from Moody’s Investors Service.

Georgia Insurance Commissioner Ralph T. Hudgens says deadly storms that struck the state this week have caused insured losses of about $50 million.