Author: completebodyneeds

The World Bank has priced a new catastrophe bond designed to help Jamaica cope with the threat of hurricanes. The $200 million bond was oversubscribed by investors, the World Bank said in a statement. The deal comes less than a year after a $150 million Jamaica catastrophe bond, also arranged by the World Bank, paid out in full following the devastation wrought by Hurricane Melissa. Read More: Jamaica Cat Bond Headed for Full Payout, World Bank Says Cat bonds are designed as the ultimate backstop to help provide funds to pay for only the most extreme weather events. The Atlantic…

Starr, the New York City based insurance group, announced the opening of a new office in Hamburg, marking the further expansion of Starr’s presence in Germany and representing an important milestone in the company’s European growth strategy. The new office is located at Neuer Wall 10, right at the heart of Hamburg’s business district. The new location strengthens Starr’s proximity to clients and broker partners across Northern Germany. “The opening of our Hamburg office marks a significant milestone for Starr in Germany,” said Tobias Braun, country manager Germany. “Hamburg is one of the most important business hubs in Germany and…

Pollution from coal-fired power plants that can block sunlight is significantly cutting global solar output, and potentially causing an overestimation of climate progress, according to a new study. Aerosols — tiny particles released from the burning of fossil fuels as well as natural sources like volcanoes — reduced global solar generation by 5.8% in 2023, researchers from the University of Oxford and University College London said in a study published in Nature Sustainability Friday. That’s equivalent to about 111 terawatt-hours of electricity, which is on par with the annual power generation of 18 medium-sized coal plants. The effect is most…

The Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed to commercial shipping, with maritime traffic reduced to a trickle and dominated by Iranian-linked vessels. There were few notable foreign-affiliated movements amid reports of Iran’s Bitcoin-backed insurance program for shipping companies willing to transit the waterway. Shipping traffic dipped over the weekend as daily transits fell from about 11 on Saturday to eight on Sunday, tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show. Among those vessels, the only non-Iranian transits were an empty inbound South Korean-linked supertanker Aram, also known as Cameroon Prosperity, and an outbound liquefied petroleum gas carrier Al Barrah, managed by Saudi…

LoriAnn V. Lowery-Biggers LOS ANGELES (May 18, 2026) – The Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation (IICF), a unique nonprofit organization dedicated to helping communities and enriching lives, today announces the appointment of LoriAnn V. Lowery-Biggers as CEO. Lowery-Biggers brings more than 30 years of experience to the role, having previously served as President of Lloyd’s North America along with executive leadership positions at The Navigators Group, Inc., Wells Fargo Insurance, Inc. and Marsh McLennan Companies, Inc. As CEO, Lowery-Biggers will be responsible for overseeing IICF’s overall operations and strategic direction and she will report to the IICF Board of Governors. Lowery-Biggers…

Standard Chartered will eliminate more than 7,000 jobs over the next four years as it seeks to replace “lower-value human capital” with technology, becoming one of the top names in finance to target headcount cuts using artificial intelligence. The London-headquartered lender on Tuesday cited AI as a driver to make its operations slimmer in its goal to increase profitability and tackle competition. StanChart said it would cut 15% of its corporate function roles by 2030, which, according to a Reuters calculation, would result in more than 7,000 redundancies out of its more than 52,000 staff in such roles. “It’s not…

The builder of the Dali cargo ship and Baltimore city officials are welcoming the U.S. government’s bringing of criminal charges against the ship’s manager for the deadly and costly collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in 2024. Shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) contends that the criminal charges brought by the Department of Justice (DOJ) last week against Synergy Marine Group correctly assign responsibility and are consistent with findings of the investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB concluded that a loose wire was to blame for power outages that eventually led to the allision. HHI maintains…

Truckmaker Volvo Group on Monday agreed to a $197 million settlement with the California Air Resources Board over alleged violations of the state’s heavy-duty engine regulations. The settlement resolves allegations that Volvo failed to properly disclose auxiliary emission control devices in over 10,000 of its 2010-2016 model year heavy-duty engines in California that resulted in emissions in excess of regulatory limits, CARB said. Volvo will pay $13 million in civil penalties, $71 million to CARB’s Air Pollution Control Fund, spend $108 million on California emissions‑reduction projects and reimburse $5 million of CARB’s costs, the truckmaker said. Related: California Accelerates Work…

A Yakima insurance agent and an unauthorized insurance company are barred from doing business in Washington after Insurance Commissioner Patty Kuderer issued cease-and-desist orders in April. Those were two enforcement actions during the first quarter in which Kuderer issued fines totaling $167,000 for insurance law violations. Kuderer’s office investigated Carol E. Perez, the licensee for Perez Insurance Inc. in Yakima, for accepting premiums from a consumer but not forwarding those payments to an insurer for a policy. The Office of the Insurance Commissioner said it revoked her license and the agency’s license after a pair of complaints and her failure…

The numbers aren’t all in, but it looks like Progressive is now the biggest private passenger auto insurer, based on an analysis from S&P Global Market Intelligence that shows Progressive muscling past State Farm. S&P GMI estimates Progressive’s U.S. private auto insurance direct written premiums for the 12 months ended March 31 totaled about $70.2 billion, roughly $1.5 billion more than the $68.7 billion tallied for State Farm over the same period—marking the first time since World War II that State Farm hasn’t been the top dog. In calculating Progressive’s trailing-12-month private direct premiums written, S&P GMI estimated results for…