E&S/Specialty

Recommendations to the states for the collection of surplus lines taxes from insurance regulators should be in place by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners' (NAIC) November meeting, said the chairman of the NAIC Surplus Lines Task Force.

Despite research reports showing escalating numbers of securities lawsuits filed by government enforcers--such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission--a buyer's market continues for directors and officers liability insurance.

The use of social media by surplus lines insurers and agents to promote business is advertising, a legal expert explains in a National Underwriter special feature this week.

Hit by underwriting losses due to the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and the Chilean earthquake, specialty insurer Markel Corp. posted a 36.7 percent decrease in second-quarter net income.

If you ask John Berger, chief executive of reinsurance for Alterra Capital Holdings, to describe his vision of Alterra five years from now, part of the answer he'll provide may surprise you.

While much has changed for two members of the Bermuda Class of 2005, underwriting discipline grounded in analytical models remains a central strategy.