Author: completebodyneeds

Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual Insurance Company (PLM), headquartered in Philadelphia, made several executive leadership changes and promotions across the organization. Steve Firko Steve Firko, CPCU, a PLM veteran of over two decades, assumed the role of president. Firko, who has 40 years of industry experience, will be responsible for executing the company’s strategic vision and overseeing key departments, including claims, accounting, regulatory, human resources and information technology. Firko succeeds John K. Smith, CPCU, as president. With over 27 years of experience at PLM, Smith will continue in his role as CEO, with Firko reporting to him. Firko joined PLM as a…

EU countries and European Parliament lawmakers on Thursday agreed to watered-down landmark artificial intelligence rules, including delaying their implementation, in a move which critics say shows Europe caving to Big Tech. The tentative agreement, which needs to be formally endorsed by EU governments and the European Parliament in the coming months, came after nine hours of negotiations. “Today’s agreement on the AI Act significantly supports our companies by reducing recurring administrative costs,” Marilena Raouna, Cyprus’s deputy minister for European affairs, said in a statement. Cyprus currently holds the rotating EU Council presidency. The changes to the AI Act, which entered…

Slide Insurance Holdings Inc. is expanding into California with a residential property excess and surplus lines program. The company said its entry into the California market us consistent with its strategic timeline. Related: California Taking Action Against State Farm Over LA Wildfire Claims Slide Specialty Insurance Company is a surplus lines insurer. Insurance coverage for California risks is available through licensed California surplus lines brokers. Slide calls itself a technology-enabled insurance company. Based in Tampa, Fla., Slide was founded by Bruce and Shannon Lucas. Topics California Homeowners Was this article valuable? Yes No Here are more articles you may enjoy.…

JPMorgan Chase tried to reach a settlement with a former investment banker before he filed a lawsuit recently making sexual assault and harassment claims, a bank spokesperson said on Wednesday. The largest U.S. bank offered $1 million to settle the allegations, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter, adding the former banker rejected it and asked for more money. The plaintiff, who in the lawsuit has the placeholder name John Doe, last week sued JPMorgan and leveraged finance executive Lorna Hajdini, alleging that he was subjected to sexual assault and racial harassment at the…

The White House is looking into an executive order that would create a vetting system for new artificial intelligence models like Anthropic PBC’s Mythos in a bid to protect business and government networks from AI-related cyber risks, a top economic adviser said Wednesday. “We’re studying, possibly an executive order to give a clear roadmap to everybody about how this is going to go and how future AIs that also potentially create vulnerabilities should go through a process so that they’re released to the wild after they’ve been proven safe, just like an FDA drug,” National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett…

A Boston man was sentenced in federal court for surreptitiously providing answers to exam questions for a person seeking a commercial learner’s permit (CLP). In Massachusetts, a permit is required before obtaining a commercial driver’s license. Frank Castro was indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2024. In January 2025, Castro was convicted of unlawful production of an identification document. He was sentenced last week to time served (approximately 23 months in prison). Prosecutors said that in October 2021, Castro told an undercover agent that he could help him obtain a permit in Massachusetts for $3,000. Castro explained that…

Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers Appoints Anthony President of US Assure Ryan Specialty Underwriting Managers (RSUM), the underwriting management division of Ryan Specialty, appointed Amber Anthony as president of US Assure. Anthony will continue to oversee marketing, sales and distribution in her ongoing capacity as president and chief marketing officer. With her promotion, Alan Ferguson, CEO of US Assure, separates president from his title. Anthony joined US Assure in 2013 and helped shape the organization’s marketplace presence and growth agenda. During her tenure, Anthony has led efforts to establish and elevate the US Assure brand, introduced data-driven tools for customer management…

On a March afternoon, artificial intelligence detected something resembling smoke on a camera feed from Arizona’s Coconino National Forest. Human analysts verified it wasn’t a cloud or dust, then alerted the state’s forest service and largest electric utility. One of dozens of AI cameras installed for the utility Arizona Public Service had spotted early signs of what came to be known as the Diamond Fire. Firefighters raced to the scene and contained the blaze before it grew past 7 acres. Related: California Taking Action Against State Farm Over LA Wildfire Claims As record-breaking heat and an abysmal snowpack raise concerns…

The Kentucky Department of Insurance recently posted the local government premium tax schedule for 2026-2027, showing tax rates and fees for more than 400 cities, towns and counties. The tax rate varies considerably from one local jurisdiction to another, the DOI’s schedule shows. For the state capital of Frankfort, for example, fire and allied perils lines are taxed at 9%. But Lexington-Fayette County sets the rate at 5%. The bulletin can be seen here, and the schedule is here. The department also posted a local government premium tax risk location chart, available here. “Taxes are imposed on insurance risks located…

Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced that 30 people, including corporate lawyers and financial professionals, have been indicted in connection with an insider trading scheme that relied on information about mergers stolen from major law firms. Nineteen people were arrested, including Nicolo Nourafchan, a corporate attorney who had worked at several large law firms and who was at the center of a vast, decade-long scheme that netted him and his co-defendants tens of millions of dollars in illicit profits, federal prosecutors in Boston said. The Yale Law School-educated attorney worked from 2013 to 2023 at Sidley Austin, Latham & Watkins and…