Author: completebodyneeds

USA Today Co., Daily Mail General and Trust Plc and a class of large publishers can seek more than $3.2 billion in damages for harm caused by monopolization of advertising technology markets by Alphabet Inc.’s Google, a New York federal judge ruled. In an opinion late Sept. 30, US District Judge P. Kevin Castel in Manhattan said he will allow jury trials to move forward on how Google’s conduct related to its AdX advertising exchange harmed major publishers. A class of about 5,000 publishers can pursue about $1.7 billion in damages from Google, he ruled, rejecting a bid by the…

The Kentucky insurance commissioner is reminding property insurers they have just three weeks to resubmit homeowner policy endorsements that comply with state law on coverage for Fortified roofs. “Upon review, several FORTIFIED endorsement filings have been found to contain language which violates KRS 304.13-346,” Commissioner Sharon Clark wrote in a bulletin posted last week. Clark explained that House Bill 256, signed into law in 2024, requires HO carriers to offer optional endorsements that will cover the cost, in claims payments, of upgrading homes to the Fortified standard developed by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety. The widely recognized…

An intense, public outcry over a woman’s account of being gang-raped at a Cornell University fraternity house prompted New York’s governor this week to angrily yank control of the investigation away from the local prosecutor who didn’t initially see what happened as a crime. Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten has said Cornell police omitted key information that could have affected his decision whether or not to pursue criminal charges. Now, the task of unraveling the case will fall to the state’s attorney general, Letitia James, who was appointed as a special prosecutor. James, a Democrat best known for…

A United Arab Emirates investigation of the near-catastrophic FlyDubai flight said the co-pilot attempted “to carry out a terrorist act” as more details emerged about what happened in the cockpit. The co-pilot used a crash ax in the attack on the pilot and then attempted to seize control of the plane that was en route to Tel Aviv from Dubai, UAE federal prosecutor Hamad Al Shamsi said in a statement published Saturday on state-run WAM news agency. The attacker is an Omani national named Hamam al-Hammami, the Associated Press reported Saturday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter. Israeli…

Clear Group, the London-based independent insurance intermediary, has acquired specialist broker Commercial Risks (UK) Ltd. and its managing general agency, Troon Underwriting. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Founded in 2002 and led by James Osman, Commercial Risks places complex, challenging and specialist risks into Lloyd’s and the surrounding company markets. The business operates predominantly in the wholesale market, working with insurance brokers throughout the UK to access dedicated London market capacity and develop solutions for risks that require expertise beyond the conventional composite market. Commercial Risks has particular expertise across commercial combined, contractors’ risks, casualty, professional risks,…

Marsh Names Neary CEO of Newly Combined East Region Andrew Neary Marsh appointed Andrew Neary as chief executive officer (CEO) of Marsh Agency’s newly combined East region. Neary will be based in Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, and will continue to report to Matt Stadler, president, Marsh Agency. The East region brings together the former East and Northeast regions, representing around 1,400 colleagues, under a single leadership and operating structure and includes New York, New Jersey, New England, and the broader U.S. Northeast from Maine to Pennsylvania. Prior to his expanded role, Neary led the former East region for five years. He will…

Novatae Risk Group, the wholesale division of World Insurance Associates, announced it acquired Specialized Program Solutions (SPS), a managing general agency (MGA) in Chester, New Jersey. Founded in 2022, SPS specializes in underwriting, marketing and program administration for long-haul trucking risks throughout the U.S. Christopher Daggett, chief executive officer of SPS, commented that SPS has aspired to transform the way trucking insurance is underwritten by combining technology, real-time data and underwriting discipline. He said joining Novatae allows the firm to “accelerate that vision.” Terms of the Aug. 1, 2026 transaction were not disclosed. Iselin, New Jersey-based Novatae Risk Group is…

Commercial property rates continues to soften, according to a new report from Willis, a WTW business. Large and complex property rates with WTW’s portfolio dropped 14.5% in the second quarter 2026, according to the fall 2026 edition of its Insurance Marketplace Realities report. This is compared to a decline in rates of 8.4% during the same time a year ago. Shared a layer programs with five or more carriers involved saw reductions during Q2 2026 of about 23.4%. WTW also reported softening treaty reinsurance renewals, signaling abundant primary capacity. Additionally, catastrophe losses for the first half 2026 were $42 billion…

South Korean regulators urged financial institutions to promptly complete internal security inspections and report the results to authorities after a series of cyberattacks led to personal data breaches across the industry. “The entire financial sector should carry out swift and thorough security inspections,” Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eog-weon said in a statement Sunday, after an emergency meeting with executives from financial institutions and industry groups. Initial findings suggest some attacks targeted less closely monitored external websites and servers used by loan agents and employees, Lee said. He added that authorities could not rule out the use of artificial intelligence…

German auto group Volkswagen will recall around 4 million vehicles across four brands in the biggest such action since the Dieselgate scandal, the Handelsblatt newspaper reported on Friday [Sept. 25]. Some 2.16 million VW models and 700,000 Audi models are to be recalled, according to Germany’s KBA road traffic authority. Handelsblatt reported that the action also included over a million vehicles at Volkswagen’s Czech brand Skoda and 200,000 at Spanish brand Seat. Seat confirmed the number. Skoda had no immediate comment on the report. In an earlier statement, Volkswagen said customers had been asked to take their vehicles for repair…