Business Insurance articles from February 2005

Business Insurance archives from February 2005

Industry has a long way to go toward brand recognition.(Last Word)(Names of insurance companies)
February 1, 2005... Byline: William Pitt & Robin Thompson The naming of insurance companies has historically been something of a hit-and-miss affair. Arch Capital Group Ltd., one of the new Bermudian insurers, is named for a street in Greenwich, Conn....

Lloyd's steps up U.S. marketing.(Cover Focus: Marketing Strategies)(Lloyd's Life Assurance Ltd.)(Company Profile)
February 1, 2005... Byline: Rupal Parekh It may be a 300-year-old British insurance market, but in terms of market share, Lloyd's of London is more American than anything else. To retain and grow its client base in the United States, Lloyd's uses a...

Audits can provide reinsurers an edge in a complex market.(Perspective)
February 1, 2005... Byline: Bina Dagar In today's highly complex world of reinsurance underwriting, the industry is showing a renewed emphasis on reinsurance underwriting audits, thus giving reinsurers an addition to their analytical tool kits with which to...

THE HUMAN CONNECTION; Brokers and insurers should focus on building trust with clients.(Cover Focus: Marketing Strategies)
February 1, 2005... Byline: Roseanne White Geisel Are you an insurer that takes pride foremost in the technological capabilities you offer brokers or policyholders? Does your company focus chiefly on trimming operational costs in order to compete on the...

Independent agents, brokers produced almost 60% of the P/C market in 2003.(Industry News)(Insurance industry)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... ALEXANDRIA, Va.-Independent agents and brokers produced 59.4% of the overall property casualty market in 2003, according to a newly released study by the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. Independent agents and brokers...

CPCU updates web tools.(Industry News)(Insurance industry)(Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter )
February 1, 2005... MALVERN, Pa.-The CPCU Society has redesigned its Web site, www.cpcusociety.org, to enable members and other users to find information more quickly and logically. The redesign aims to equip the site visitor with a more intuitive navigation...

Emerging markets embrace international regulations.(Cover Focus: Marketing Strategies)
February 1, 2005... Byline: Roseanne White Geisel The movement toward international standards and regulation of insurance and other financial sectors continues to gather strength with the support of emerging markets, according to an international insurance...

Software firm forms unit to serve benefit intermediaries.(Industry News)(Vertafore Inc. )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... WINDSOR, Conn.-Application service provider Vertafore Inc. has formed a division to provide software and automation services to employee benefits agencies and brokers. Vertafore Benefits will be the fifth operating unit of Windsor,...

Venture Programs launches wholesale workers comp division.(Industry News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... WEST CHESTER, Pa.-Industry specific insurance package designer and underwriter Venture Programs Inc. has launched a wholesale division offering monoline workers compensation coverage for heterogeneous risks outside of Venture's traditional...

CEOs question ability to learn from experience.(Feature)(Chief executive officers)(Insurance industry)
February 1, 2005... Byline: Rodd Zolkos As much of the insurance market continues to soften, some insurance company executives aren't sure how much the industry has learned from experience. Speaking in January as part of a chief executive panel at the...

TRIA's end will lead to `major changes'.(Industry News)(Terrorism Risk Insurance Act)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... NEW YORK-Failure to extend the federal Terrorism Risk Insurance Act beyond its scheduled sunset on Dec. 31, 2005 is already prompting changes in some sectors of the U.S. insurance industry, and the failure to extend the measure could have a...

Commercial auto underwriting results turnaround: Conning.(Industry News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... HARTFORD, Conn.-Commercial automobile underwriting results made a dramatic turn for the better from 1999 to 2003, according to a study by Conning Research & Consulting Inc. According to Hartford, Conn.-based Conning, the industry's...

Gallagher combines reinsurance operations.(Industry News)(Arthur J. Gallagher & Co merged with Arthur J. Gallagher Intermediaries Inc. and John P. Woods & Co into a new unit called Gallagher RE Inc. )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... ITASCA, Ill.-Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has merged its two U.S. reinsurance brokerage operations, Arthur J. Gallagher Intermediaries Inc. and John P. Woods & Co., into a new unit called Gallagher RE Inc. Randall S. Jensen, who has been...

Health debit cards to carry Blue Cross Blue Shield name.(Industry News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... WASHINGTON-The board of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assn. has cleared the way for BCBSA plans to work with banks to offer Blues-branded debit cards to members participating in tax-favored health savings accounts as well as flexible spending...

Trustmark forms unit to target niche for middle market clients.(Industry News)(Trustmark Insurance Co. forms new business unit to provide health plans and service )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... LAKE FOREST, Ill.-Recognizing what the company sees as an emerging and underserved market segment, Trustmark Insurance Co. has formed a business unit to provide health plans and service to employers with 51 to 99 employees. According to...

Amid ruin, insured tsunami losses are low.(Industry News)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... NEW YORK-The ultimate economic losses from the Dec. 26, 2004, tsunami that struck Indian Ocean coastlines are expected to be significant, but the extent of insured losses should be manageable for insurers and reinsurers, according to Moody's...

Cultural competency is key to success with ethnic groups.(Cover Focus: Marketing Strategies)
February 1, 2005... Byline: Rodd Zolkos Growing ethnic communities in many areas present market opportunities for the insurance industry, but failure to develop the cultural competency needed to address those communities on their own terms can doom marketing...

Analysts looking for regulators to impose practice standards.(Feature)
February 1, 2005... Byline: Regis J. Coccia Contingent compensation arrangements are not, by themselves, a problem in the insurance industry, but brokers have a duty to disclose them to insurance buyers, according to panelists who spoke last month at the...

The Quote.(Industry News)(John J. Phelan of American Re-Insurance Co )(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... `Fundamentally, we have to decide whether we're going to run losing businesses or profitable businesses. I have never in my life run a losing business in the turn of a cycle, and I'm not going to start now.' John J. Phelan Chairman...

On the Move.(Industry News)(Insurance industry)(Appointments)
February 1, 2005... Hamilton, Bermuda-based ACE Ltd. has named Brian E. Dowd president of ACE INA Holdings, chairman and chief executive officer of the insurer's ACE USA division and chairman of ACE Westchester Specialty. The move follows the resignation of Susan...

Three Questions.(Interview)(Donald J. Hurzeler)(Interview)
February 1, 2005... As president of the CPCU Society, Donald J. Hurzeler, chief marketing officer in the Commercial Business Group of Schaumburg, Ill.-based Zurich North America, is a frequent speaker at insurance industry gatherings. With the recent...

When a trip to the mailbox becomes a rite of passage.(First Word)
February 1, 2005... Byline: Rodd Zolkos There are certain moments in life that are inevitable. You know they're coming, you're powerless to stop them and you can only anticipate their arrival with a sense of grim resignation. I encountered one such moment...

Survey response upbeat from Joint Industry Forum.(Feature)(insurance industry)
February 1, 2005... Property/casualty insurance industry leaders surveyed in January indicated they expect state investigations into insurance industry practices to continue expanding through 2005. Executives attending the Ninth Annual Property/Casualty...

Between the Lines; Contingency plans for panel speaker.(News)(meshed briefs)
February 7, 2005... Byline: Compiled by Joanne Wojcik A session on contingent commissions slated for this year's Risk & Insurance Management Society conference lost one of its key speakers when he was forced to resign in the wake of New York Attorney General...

Comings & Goings.(News)(Coface Group appoints Jon Lindsay, Woodruff-Sawyer and Co. appoints Ron Packouz, Aon Corp. appoints Kieran O'Mahony )
February 7, 2005... Insurers: Nancy Peterson is the new president of KMC Insurance Services Inc., a member of the Dallas-based Curley Insurance Group. Previously, Ms. Peterson was a branch operations manager with the McCall Agency. Adrian Ballardie has...

Disasters not raising political risk, for now.(International)
February 7, 2005... Byline: GLORIA GONZALEZ Major events in 2004 such as the Asian tsunami and the train bombings in Madrid, Spain, had little immediate impact on affected countries' overall political and economic risk ratings, according to research by Aon...

FSA clarifies inducement rules.(Compensation Crisis: Marsh Settlement)(Financial Services Authority)
February 7, 2005... Byline: Sarah Veysey LONDON-The United Kingdom's financial services regulator has outlined to policyholders and the insurance market situations in which it believes contingent commissions and other inducements represent a conflict of...

World Updates; Lloyd's estimates tsunami exposure.(International)
February 7, 2005... The Lloyd's of London market's exposure to the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004, is likely to be about u100 million ($188.8 million), net of reinsurance, Lloyd's said last week. Lloyd's said that it had received loss...

Doctor cleared in 'failure to diagnose' case; House of Lords refuses to extend physician liability in malpractice ruling.(International)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Byline: CAROLYN ALDRED LONDON-A doctor who misdiagnosed a cancer patient should not be held liable for the claimant's reduced chance of recovery, the United Kingdom's highest court has ruled. According to the Jan. 27 House of Lords...

U.K. authorities owe duty of care to special needs students: Court; But significant barriers to compensation payouts remain.(education authorities' negligence of duty towards providing education)
February 7, 2005... Byline: CAROLYN ALDRED LONDON-The liability of local education authorities that fail to provide suitable education for children with special needs has been extended by recent United Kingdom appeals court decisions, but the hurdle for...

Whole Foods executive advocates move to consumer-driven plans.(News)
February 7, 2005... Byline: JERRY GEISEL WASHINGTON-Employers should stop offering traditional health insurance plans to their employees, says the top executive of one of the nation's best-known food markets. Unless employers have core competence in...

Cleanup settlement ends longtime feud; Equitas, others to pay $93 million.
February 7, 2005... Byline: ROBERTO CENICEROS SACRAMENTO, Calif.-Insurers will pay $93 million to settle a decades-old legal battle over general liability coverage for the infamous Stringfellow Hazardous Waste Site in Glen Avon, Calif. The insurance...

Demise of Global Broking.(Compensation Crisis: Marsh Settlement)(Calendar)
February 7, 2005... Marsh Inc. announced last week that it would disband its controversial Global Broking unit. The Global Broking model of centralized placements was developed over several decades, but it first became a formal system in the early 1990s. ...

Senator seeking quick action on asbestos reform plan.(News)
February 7, 2005... Byline: MARK A. HOFMANN WASHINGTON-Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, R-Pa., still intends to push ahead quickly with a measure that would replace the current litigation-based system for compensating victims of...

St. Paul increases asbestos reserves.(News)(St. Paul Travelers Cos.)
February 7, 2005... Byline: JUDY GREENWALD ST. PAUL, Minn.-There is no guarantee the $1.01 billion increase in asbestos and environmental liability reserves reported by St. Paul Travelers Cos. is the last major asbestos reserves increase for the insurer,...

Battle ends, but other attacks loom.(Compensation Crisis: Marsh Settlement)
February 7, 2005... Byline: JUDY GREENWALD NEW YORK-The $850 million settlement reached by Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. with New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over alleged fraud and bid-rigging charges leaves many unresolved questions for the company. ...

Risk managers hope settlement spurs greater transparency.(Compensation Crisis: Marsh Settlement)
February 7, 2005... Byline: SALLY ROBERTS Risk managers last week welcomed the $850 million settlement between Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer over alleged fraud and bid-rigging charges with the hope that it leads to...

CDHPs cause for optimism.(Opinions)(Consumer-driven health care plans )
February 7, 2005... BY NOW, IT SHOULD be obvious that employers' adoption of consumer-driven health care plans is no flash in the pan. Hundreds of employers-ranging from Fortune 500 companies to very small firms-now offer the plans to employees with many more...

HSAs help ease transition to consumer-directed care; Dramatic growth in health savings accounts expected now that guidance is available.(Benefits Management)
February 7, 2005... Byline: JUDY GREENWALD There was some "kicking and screaming'' when Neenah, Wis.-based Plexus Corp. began to move to consumer-driven health care programs two years ago, says corporate benefits manager Sarah Novak. It demanded a "real...

HRA-linked plans cut costs for some employers; Change in employee behavior 'at the heart' of controlling health care costs.(Benefits Management)(Health risk assessment)
February 7, 2005... Byline: JERRY GEISEL For Logan Aluminum Inc., health care cost increases had reached the breaking point in 2003. Since 1999, its costs had been rising an average of 12% a year, including an eye-popping increase of 22% in 2002. ...

Careful pricing counters adverse selection factor.(Benefits Management)(consumer-driven health plans)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Byline: Joanne Wojcik In some cases, real-life experience is contradicting health plans' and consultants' assertions that adverse selection won't occur when consumer-driven health plans are offered as an option rather than as a total...

Savings not necessarily quick with consumer-driven offerings.(Benefits Management)
February 7, 2005... Byline: JOANNE WOJCIK The adage "let the buyer beware'' is an apt warning to benefit managers shopping for high-deductible consumer-driven health plans. Not all employers are finding huge bargains, and those that are reaping some...

Employers seek optimal approach to stacking health care accounts.(Benefits Management)
February 7, 2005... Byline: SALLY ROBERTS Since the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued guidance last year ending uncertainty over how health savings accounts could interplay with flexible spending accounts and health reimbursement...

Marsh's non-U.S. clients won't see settlement funds; U.K. market has found no evidence of bid rigging.(Compensation Crisis: Marsh Settlement)
February 7, 2005... Byline: SARAH VEYSEY LONDON-Most Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. clients outside the United States will not receive any of the $850 million in compensation the company has agreed to pay as part of its settlement of misconduct charges. ...

HUD expands rating agency options for mandatory LTC liability coverage.(News)(Department of Housing and Urban Development)(Long-term care facilities )
February 7, 2005... Byline: MICHAEL BRADFORD COLUMBUS, Ohio-Long-term care facilities will have a larger market of professional liability insurers to choose from after the Department of Housing and Urban Development's approval of a change in the way those...

Koken presses for more transparency as NAIC head.(News)(Diane Koken)(National Association of Insurance Commissioners)
February 7, 2005... Byline: MEG FLETCHER KANSAS CITY, Mo.-Amid a challenging time for the insurance industry, the new president of the National Assn. of Insurance Commissioners is working to increase the transparency of broker compensation, while not losing...

Class action reform bill heads to Senate.(Congress. Senate. Committee on the Judiciary)(Class Action Fairness Act of 2003 (Draft))
February 7, 2005... Byline: MARK A. HOFMANN WASHINGTON-The Senate Judiciary Committee has cleared the way for the full Senate to begin consideration of class action reform legislation on Monday. The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 13-5, with three...

Spitzer expects more guilty pleas; New York attorney general says industry 'rife' with corruption.(Compensation Crisis: Marsh Settlement)(Eliot Spitzer)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Byline: MARK A. HOFMANN WASHINGTON-The insurance industry "has corruption that is rife throughout it,'' says New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, stressing that his investigation will bring more guilty pleas soon. During a Jan. 31...

Merrill Lynch dismissed from WorldCom suit.(News)
February 7, 2005... Byline: JOANNE WOJCIK NEW YORK-A court ruling dismissing Merrill Lynch from a lawsuit filed by the former WorldCom Corp.'s 401(k) plan participants seeking to hold it liable for plan losses could discourage similar suits against pension...

An opportunity for reform.(Opinions)(Marsh and McLennan Companies Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 7, 2005... Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc.'s $850 million settlement of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's suit alleging fraud and bid rigging is the latest and perhaps the most important chapter in a scandal that has shaken the insurance industry. ...

WorldCom settlement unravels; Outside directors to face D&O coverage battle.(News)
February 7, 2005... Byline: DAVE LENCKUS NEW YORK-The disintegration of an unusual settlement between 10 former outside directors of WorldCom Inc. and company investors could leave the directors with substantially less insurance protection. With the...

How the Marsh settlement works.(Compensation Crisis: Marsh Settlement)(Marsh and McLennan Companies Inc)
February 7, 2005... Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. will create an $850 million fund to compensate U.S. policyholder clients that used Marsh Inc. to place coverage incepting between Jan. 1, 2001, and Dec. 31, 2004, on which Marsh collected contingent commissions or...

Pact may be blueprint for other deals.(Compensation Crisis: Marsh Settlement)(Marsh and McLennan Companies Inc)
February 7, 2005... Byline: DOUGLAS McLEOD NEW YORK-Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. and rival brokers are far from being out of the woods in the brokerage compensation scandal despite Marsh's $850 million settlement of fraud and price-fixing charges last week. ...

Late News; ACE plans to fight Connecticut suit.(ACE Ltd.)(US Airways Group Inc)(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.)(Towers Perrin Reinsurance)
February 7, 2005... ACE Ltd. plans to file a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed last month by Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal against an ACE unit and broker Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. The suit charges that ACE paid Marsh a secret commission to steer...

Over 1,200 attend conference.(2005 D&O Liability and Insurance Issues Symposium in New York)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... NEW YORK-More than 1,200 people attended the 2005 D&O Liability and Insurance Issues Symposium, held Feb. 2-3 in New York. Sponsored by the Minneapolis, Minn.-based Professional Liability Underwriting Society, the symposium drew directors...

D&O suits increasingly seek to tap personal funds; ABA Insurance Risk Management Annual Conference.(directors and officers liability settlements)
February 14, 2005... Byline: MICHAEL BRADFORD ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-Recently announced directors and officers liability settlements that require outside directors to contribute their own funds may signal the start of a new aggressive litigation strategy, a...

Specialty risk group is building on past success; North American Contingency Assn. grows from social event to annual conference.(association)
February 14, 2005... Byline: MICHAEL BRADFORD History has proved that small gatherings of insurance professionals can grow to become influential organizations in the marketplace. Consider the crowd at Edward Lloyd's coffeehouse in London in 1688, for...

D&O insurers pressured by securities class actions; PLUS 2005 D&O Liability & Insurance Issues Symposium.(Directors' and officers' liability insurance)
February 14, 2005... Byline: RUPAL PAREKH NEW YORK-Securities class action lawsuits are increasing in both frequency and severity, ensnaring a growing number of directors and officers, and placing more pressure on D&O insurance companies. With a total of...

Meetings offer chance to rap.(News)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-Some who attended the American Bankers Assn.'s Insurance Risk Management Annual Conference & Meetings had a brush with celebrity at one of the conference hotels. Apparently en route to a Super Bowl benefit he had...

Industry pressures lead S&P to revise P/C earnings outlook; ABA Insurance Risk Management Annual Conference.(News)
February 14, 2005... Byline: MICHAEL BRADFORD ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-Commercial insurance rates are softening so fast that Standard & Poor's Corp. has changed one of its projections on insurer performance for this year. The ratings service in December 2004...

Experts ponder what happens after TRIA expires; ABA Insurance Risk Management Annual Conference.(News)(Terrorism Risk Insurance Act)
February 14, 2005... Byline: MICHAEL BRADFORD ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.-Property owners relying on the terrorism insurance coverage that insurers are required to offer under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act had better start thinking about an alternative to the...

Timeline of legal wrangling over ADEA, retiree benefits.(News)(Age Discrimination in Employment Act)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... August 2000: The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rules the Age Discrimination in Employment Act applies to retiree health care plans. The ruling, involving retiree health care plans provided by Erie County, Pa., exposes to litigation...

Are Spitzer's eyes on the top prize?(Column)
February 14, 2005... Byline: Mark A. Hofmann I ended my Jan. 3 column, which was basically an exercise in insurance-related science fiction, with a reference to the election of President Eliot Spitzer in 2008. As tag lines go, it was meant as a joke, albeit of...

Financial incentives provide impetus for employees to improve health; 2005 Employee Healthcare Conference.
February 14, 2005... Byline: GLORIA GONZALEZ NEW YORK-Employers are increasingly using financial incentives to encourage employees to take steps to improve their health and participate in wellness programs that could help reduce health care costs. ...

Most D&O rates fall despite increase in securities lawsuits; PLUS D&O Liability & Insurance Issues Symposium.(News)
February 14, 2005... Byline: RUPAL PAREKH Despite a surge in new securities class action lawsuits and larger-than-ever claims, rates for directors and officers insurance in 2004 declined across nearly all sectors of the market. Based on a study by New...

Niche market offers comp coverage for corporate jet crews; Filling guaranteed-cost program holes.
February 14, 2005... Byline: ROBERTO CENICEROS While most companies with corporate jets likely maintain loss-sensitive workers compensation programs, those that do have guaranteed-cost programs might need to turn to specialty underwriters. That can happen...

Products & Services; AIG Aviation expands specialty comp offering.(News)
February 14, 2005... NEW YORK-AIG Aviation Inc., a subsidiary of American International Group Inc., has expanded its specialty workers compensation program to include fixed-base operators, which are service centers providing catering service, fueling, hangar space,...

Product development requires appetite for risk; Despite careful planning and development, some specialty coverages still fail.
February 14, 2005... Byline: RUPAL PAREKH From inception to launch, developing specialty products in the insurance business is a multi-faceted process that requires extensive research, marketplace savvy, and most of all, the willingness to take a chance. ...

AARP lawsuit delays final EEOC ruling on retiree health plans.(News)(Equal Employment Opportunity Commission)
February 14, 2005... Byline: JERRY GEISEL PHILADELPHIA-Employers are going to have to wait longer-perhaps a lot longer-to find out if a longstanding legal threat to retiree health care plans is gone. Earlier this month, the Equal Employment Opportunity...

Medicare subsidy helps companies cut retiree costs; 2005 Employee Healthcare Conference.(News)
February 14, 2005... Byline: GLORIA GONZALEZ NEW YORK-Several employers are attempting to curtail the rising costs of their retiree medical programs by eliminating subsidized coverage for some future retirees and incorporating new Medicare prescription drug...

Britney spears her insurers in suit over tour cancellation coverage.(News)
February 14, 2005... Byline: Roberto Ceniceros NEW YORK-Insurers have wrongly denied a $9.8 million event cancellation claim filed by Britney Spears after a knee injury forced her to cancel a concert tour last year, the pop star contends. In a lawsuit...

World Updates; U.K. pension deficits fall in 2003.(International)
February 14, 2005... The pension funding deficits of the 350 largest publicly listed companies in the United Kingdom fell to u71 billion ($136.04 billion) in 2004, down 2.7% compared with 2003, according to estimates by Mercer Human Resource Consulting in London....

350 attend health care conference.(News)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... NEW YORK-About 350 people attended the 2005 Employee Healthcare Conference, presented by the Conference Board and sponsored by Towers Perrin HR Services. The theme of the conference, which was held Feb. 2-4 in New York, was "Resolving the...

Underwriters resisting Aon fee structure change.
February 14, 2005... Byline: CAROLYN ALDRED LONDON-Underwriters are resisting Aon Ltd.'s plans to revamp its fee structure in London by imposing an upfront charge on insurers for services it says it provides to the market. All fees involved in the...

Australian rule targets conflicts of interest.(International)
February 14, 2005... Byline: ELIZABETH FRY SYDNEY, Australia-With Australian regulators working to wrap up their investigations into brokerage compensation arrangements, brokers, insurers and other financial services companies in Australia already are dealing...

Aon sets aside settlement funds; Broker earmarks $50 million.(News)(Aon Corp.)
February 14, 2005... Byline: SALLY ROBERTS CHICAGO-Aon Corp. for the first time last week acknowledged that it will likely pay millions of dollars to settle yet-to-be filed charges by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and other state attorneys general...

Administration seeking HSA tax break; Credits could encourage small employers to offer cover.(News)(Health saving Accounts)
February 14, 2005... Byline: JERRY GEISEL WASHINGTON-The Bush administration is asking Congress to pass legislation-first outlined by President Bush last year-that would give small employers tax credits to partially offset contributions they made to employees'...

Noncompetes could burn employers; As hiring increases, risk of litigation may grow.(News)
February 14, 2005... Byline: JUDY GREENWALD Employers that poach employees from competitors beware: You may find yourself with a lawsuit as well as a new staff member. If new hires signed noncompete agreements at their former jobs, their former employees...

Gay manager wins harassment suit; First award issued under new law.(International)
February 14, 2005... Byline: CAROLYN ALDRED LONDON-A manager who was taunted about being gay by senior colleagues has been awarded u35,345 ($65,667) in the first successful case to be brought under new employment legislation. The Employment Tribunal award...

Bush budget proposals seek to shore up PBGC; Would OK pension plan overfunding.(Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.)
February 14, 2005... Byline: JERRY GEISEL WASHINGTON-A pension reform package proposed by the Bush administration would help to shore up the financial base of the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., but experts say the package may not do enough to stop or...

Class action bill passes Senate; Expected approval in House would give tort reformers rare victory.(News)
February 14, 2005... Byline: MARK A. HOFMANN WASHINGTON-The U.S. Senate's 72-26 vote in favor of the Class Action Fairness Act last week could ease the way for additional federal tort reforms, say tort reform advocates. The bipartisan bill, which, among...

Class action lessons learned.(Opinions)
February 14, 2005... WHAT SEEMED LIKE an impossible dream appears likely to become reality in the next few days. That dream is meaningful class action reform, made possible by the Senate's overwhelming vote in favor of the Class Action Fairness Act last week....

Renewal of TRIA said to hinge on Treasury analysis of market.(News)(Terrorism Risk Insurance Act)(Brief Article)
February 14, 2005... Byline: MARK A. HOFMANN WASHINGTON-The House of Representatives is unlikely to move on reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act until the Treasury Department issues a report on the state of the terrorism insurance market,...

Off with his hair for worthy cause.(shaving head for collecting funds for cancer research)
February 14, 2005... Byline: Paul Winston In 2004, I joined thousands of other people around the world who shaved their heads bald to benefit research into curing childhood cancers. Now, almost one year and a dozen haircuts later, I'm planning to do it again....