A probe of credit rating agencies was announced by the California Attorney General's Office right before his targets were called on the carpet during the National Association of Insurance Commissioners conference last week.

The Florida Office of Insurance Regulation and the Bermuda Monetary Authority have signed a memorandum of understanding, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty said.

Low pricing conditions are expected to continue into next year as more capital begins flowing back into the insurance market and the economy improves, Guy Carpenter's chief economist said.

The Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Run-Off Companies (AIRROC) said it has formally launched an alternate dispute resolution procedure.

A bill aimed at helping small veteran-owned contractors obtain surety bonding is harmful rather than helpful, an official of the Surety & Fidelity Association told a congressional panel.

Arbitration Forums Inc. (AF) said it has developed a new Web-based system for insurance subrogation cases that will save its 4,000 member firms an estimated $460 million.

A reevaluation of insurance regulators' use of rating agencies is needed because their poor performance helped prompt the financial crisis, a regulator and consumer advocate testified.

Airline insurance placements saw their third straight month of premium increase pointing to an increasingly hardening market in that sector, Aon insurance brokerage said.