Author: completebodyneeds

Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., the Rolling Meadows, Illinois-based insurance broker, announced the acquisition of Vancouver, British Columbia-based Apollo Insurance Solutions Ltd. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Apollo is a digital insurance broker and managing general agency (MGA) specializing in tenant insurance across Canada, supported by a proprietary platform that uses AI to help streamline the insurance placement process. Jeff McCann and his team will remain in their current location under the direction of Dave Partington, head of Gallagher’s retail property/casualty brokerage operations in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean. “Apollo’s digital platform and talented team will strengthen…

Swiss Re AG’s first-half profit beat estimates as the reinsurer saw all key business units perform in line with targets, while the firm announced a fresh round of cost cuts. Profit for the second quarter was $1.3 billion, resulting in net income of $2.8 billion for the six months to June, the Zurich-based company said in a statement Thursday. Return on the group’s investment portfolio was 4% for the first half of the year, aided by realized gains from real estate sales in the first quarter. Swiss Re announced that it is raising its operating-cost reduction target to $500 million…

New York City is taking legal action against online retailers selling dangerous motorized devices — including high-speed e-bikes, stand-up e-scooters and other products that cannot legally be operated on the city’s streets. Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani said the city has issued cease-and-desist orders to 42 online retailers demanding they immediately stop selling these illegal devices to customers in the city’s 175 ZIP codes. The products being being targeted by the city exceed legal limits for speed, weight or other safety requirements. The announcement comes following several tragedies. A week ago a 17-year old boy on an illegal e-bike was killed…

A Chinese-built digital spyware tool has evolved into a more all-encompassing surveillance technology that’s in use in more than 13 countries, according to new research from a security firm. The cybersecurity firm Arctic Wolf Networks Inc. said Wednesday that it detected a malicious software platform, called LightSpy, which enables users to pay the company to steal victims’ personal information, including hyper-specific location data, sound recording, chat records, camera and video and screen recording and more. The technology is also able to completely wipe someone’s personal device, according to Arctic Wolf. The platform contains pricing tiers, billing infrastructure and branding, according…

Alphabet Inc.’s Google faces a class action lawsuit over alleged abuse of its dominance after an antitrust tribunal allowed a claim on behalf of hundreds of thousands of British firms to go ahead. The lawsuit alleged that Google overcharged businesses that paid for online advertising and abused its dominance over mobile operating systems, app distribution and search advertising. The Competition Appeal Tribunal on Wednesday rejected Google’s bid to stop the claim from going ahead on an opt out basis. “The proposed collective proceedings meet the eligibility condition,” the judges said in the ruling. Eligible UK businesses will automatically be included…

A worker’s fatal fall led Cal/OSHA to cite three Los Angeles County-based roofing contractors for multiple workplace safety violations, with proposed penalties totaling $282,420. An employee was repairing a roof leak at a two-story residential property in Westchester when he fell 24 feet to the ground and suffered fatal head injuries on Jan. 9. Related: Cal/OSHA Fines Fabricator $212K Over Employee Finger Amputation Cal/OSHA inspectors later determined that each of the three employers was responsible for protecting workers from hazards associated with the roofing operation. It was found that the employers permitted the crew to work on the roof without…

Four years after Florida lawmakers ordered condominium buildings to be inspected regularly in the wake of the deadly Surfside collapse, a state report shows that more than 8,700 buildings have now been inspected. About 900 of those properties sought building permits to make needed repairs in 2024 and 2025, some of which cost as much as $30 million. The average repair permit was for $337,230 in 2024 and almost $500,000 in 2025, the analysis shows. But the report, published by the Florida Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (known as OPPAGA) has raised as many questions as it…

Eight of the world’s largest shipping industry associations urged the United Nations and International Maritime Organization to oppose any compulsory tolls or transit charges in the Strait of Hormuz, warning that such a move could set a precedent for similar fees at other key maritime choke points. In a joint letter dated Aug. 3 to UN Secretary-General António Guterres and IMO Secretary-General Arsenio Dominguez but published Wednesday, the groups said introducing transit tolls or service fees “that are a toll in all but name” would undermine the international legal framework governing navigation through international straits. “Once such a precedent is…

Zurich Insurance Group AG reported a 13% gain in profit for the first half of 2026 as it saw accelerating demand across all businesses, boosted by global data center and energy infrastructure demand. Group operating profit rose to $4.77 billion, the insurer said on Thursday. Analysts had estimated $4.73 billon. Net income increased 14% to $3.49 billion from the same period a year earlier. Zurich Insurance’s key property and casualty unit rose by 12% on a like-for-like basis from the same period a year earlier, with $2.81 billion in operating profit, in line with analyst estimates, and a 92.7% combined…

Brookfield Asset Management raised a record $77 billion in the second quarter, led mostly by its credit business, as the firm continues its push into the insurance sector. The firm’s distributable earnings climbed 15% to $707 million, or 44 cents per share, roughly in line with the average estimate of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. Fee-bearing capital rose to $672 billion, up 19% over the previous year. “Our ability to fundraise across the largest and most diverse pools of global capital and deploy into the largest and most attractive investment themes continues to accelerate,” Chief Executive Officer Connor Teskey said in…