The News Review:
- AIG In New Deal With US Government Posts Record Loss
- A national healthcare reform primer
- FDIC to levy special assessment on banks
- Conseco 4Q Loss Widens n Invest Losses Warns f Default
- FDIC Proposes Charging Banks New Fee To Beef Up Insurance Fund
- Prudential Unit May Buy Stake In Yamato Life
- Doyle’s proposal to raise car insurance levels draws controversy
AIG In New Deal With US Government Posts Record Loss
CNNMoney.com
(AIG) reached a new deal with the U. government for continued support for its restructuring as the insurance giant’sposted a record quarterly loss on $64. 1 billion in write-downs and charges.
A national healthcare reform primer
Los Angeles Times
By Bob Rosenblatt March 2 2009Most people with health insurance say they like what they have. They trust their doctors and they are fearful of any change in their policy. Many of the 47 million uninsured people in this country don’t go to the doctor even if they need to because they figure they can’t afford it. They skimp on medications or skip them entirely.
FDIC to levy special assessment on banks
Bizjournals.com
_BE508EB564A141F4968EEA511A6144F4. 27 added a one-time special assessment of 20 cents on every $100 of insured deposits so it can quickly restore reserves to its deposit insurance fund. It will be paid by all institutions holding insured deposits and that usually means the increase will be passed through to depositors in the form of decreased interest yield on deposits. The special charge is expected to bolster the deposit fund by $15 billion this year.
Conseco 4Q Loss Widens n Invest Losses Warns f Default
CNNMoney.com
‘s (CN) preliminary fourth-quarter net loss widened on larger netrealized investment losses as the insurance company warned of a possible defaulton its senior credit line if auditors cast doubt on its ability to continue as agoing concern. Conseco also announced an up-to-two-week delay in filing its annual report asit finishes analysis and disclosure related to its investment portfolio. The company noted its accounting firm said that without more information tosatisfy auditors’ concerns about Conseco’s liquidity and debt covenant marginsthe audit will include an analysis of the company’s ability to continue as agoing concern. If such language ends up questioning its going-concern abilitythat would constitute a default on Conseco’s senior credit facility. The life-insurance sector has been hurt by the market turmoil which has hurtmany insurers’ financial flexibility and decreased and their ability to accessthe credit markets.
FDIC Proposes Charging Banks New Fee To Beef Up Insurance Fund
Washington Post
which insures investor deposits in banks has proposed a one-time fee on banks totaling $27 billion. The money would go toward insuring deposits in banks that the FDIC predicts will fail between now and 2013. The FDIC predicts that cost could go as high as $65 billion. The FDIC will now solicit comments on what is likely to be a controversial proposal.
Prudential Unit May Buy Stake In Yamato Life
CNNMoney.com
) TKY -(Dow Jones)- The court-appointed administrator for Yamato LifeInsurance Co. said Monday that it has reached an agreement with a unit ofPrudential Financial Group (PRU) to help with Yamato’s restructuring a movethat could ultimately lead to a stake investment by the unit in the failedinsurer. The deal would allow Prudential’s unit Gibraltar Life Insurance to discussdetails with Yamato’s administrator and the Life Insurance PolicyholdersProtection of Japan – an industry-organized safety net for insurers – on howthey would turn around the failed insurer. After restructuring Gibraltar wouldtake over Yamato’s operations including customer contracts. Yamato’s court-appointed administrator also said that it plans to ask the LifeInsurance Policyholders Protection Corp.
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Doyle’s proposal to raise car insurance levels draws controversy
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
2 2009 The cost of auto insurance for Wisconsin drivers would jump and some financially stressed consumers probably would drop coverage if provisions included in Gov. Jim Doyle’s budget plan become law the insurance industry says. But Doyle and trial lawyers backing a proposal to raise minimum liability coverage for auto policies contend that change is needed to bring coverage in line with medical costs that have soared since the current law was put in place 28 years ago. Increased minimum coverage requirements could sting even more if lawmakers decide to make auto insurance mandatory for all Wisconsin motorists.