INSURANCE TRADE GROUPS ASK IASB TO REVISE INSURANCE
GUIDANCE.
Seven insurance trade organizations wrote the International
Accounting Standards Board last week asking it to amend its proposed
insurance guidance to be in accordance with accounting rules . . .
ALBERTA'S PREMIER FREEZES AUTO INSURANCE RATES FOR 18
MONTHS.
Alberta's conservative cabinet accepted the recommendation
from Premier Ralph Klein Nov. 2 to freeze auto insurance rates, but
extended the freeze from his recommended one year by an additional . . .
NATIONAL SAFETY COUNCIL GIVES UP ON ERGONOMICS
GUIDELINES.
The National Safety Council has given up its 13-year quest to come
up with national ergonomics guidelines for the American National
Standards Institute after the Institute told the council to . . .
SUPREME COURT REJECTS UNION CARBIDE'S ASBESTOS
APPEAL.
The Supreme Court said Nov. 3 it won't hear an appeal by Union
Carbide of a West Virginia jury verdict that its facilities were
unreasonably dangerous due to asbestos fibers from 1945 to 1980.
. . .
SUPREME COURT LETS SUZUKI SUE CONSUMERS UNION OVER
ARTICLE.
Consumers Union must face a defamation trial over an article
labeling a sport-utility vehicle "not acceptable" because it
found a propensity for the Suzuki Samurai to roll over . . .
CONGRESS STRUGGLES TO REACH AGREEMENT ON PRIORITY
LEGISLATION.
Congressional leaders struggled last week to reach agreement over
outstanding issues on class action, asbestos and Medicare legislation,
but they had little, if any, progress to report by the end . . .
SENATE APPROVES CREDIT BILL, BLOCKS STATE FINANCIAL PRIVACY
LAWS.
In a giant victory for the insurance industry, the Senate voted
95-2 Nov. 5 to allow insurers to continue sharing personal financial
information with affiliates and to prohibit states from passing . . .
SENATE REPUBLICANS PLAN 30-HOUR BATTLE OVER JUDICIAL
NOMINEES.
Republican conservatives frustrated with stalled judicial
nominations have forced Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN) to
schedule 30 hours of debate between late Nov. 12 to early Nov. 14 . . .
MADISON COUNTY, IL, TOPS ATRA's 2003 LIST OF JUDICIAL
'HELLHOLES'.
Refining its list of "judicial hellholes" where corporate
defendants don't think they can get a fair trial, the American Tort
Reform Association released its latest version and for the first . . .
HOUSE PANEL WARNS NAIC TO HURRY UP ON STATE INSURANCE
REFORMS.
Members of the House Financial Services capital markets
subcommittee Nov. 5 applauded the progress made by states to establish a
more uniform, efficient state insurance regulation system - but . . .
SUPREME COURT TO DECIDE IF HMOs MAY BE SUED IN STATE
COURT.
The Supreme Court agreed Nov. 3 to hear a challenge by health
maintenance organizations to lower court rulings allowing injured
patients and their families to sue in state court without . . .
NEW YORK: ARBITRATION SET IN WORLD TRADE CENTER DISPUTE.
U.S. District Judge Michael B. Mukasey has ordered the developer of
the World Trade Center and his insurers to move to arbitration Nov. 6 in
their dispute of billions of dollars in coverage for the . . .
MINNESOTA POLICE OFFICERS HAVE QUALIFIED IMMUNITY IN CAR
CHASE.
Two Minneapolis police officers have qualified immunity from
lawsuit over a crash in which one person was killed and another
permanently injured when their car was struck by another driven by a . . .
CALIFORNIA TORT REFORMERS UNVEIL INITIATIVE FOR NOVEMBER
2004.
A coalition of California business interests say they want to put
an initiative on the November 2004 ballot that would limit the ability
of plaintiffs' lawyers to file suit under the state's . . .
CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE CLAIMS EXPECTED TO EXCEED $2.2 BILLION
CLAIMS.
Loss damage from last week's forest fires in Southern
California are expected to match or exceed the record damage caused by
the 1991 Oakland fires that cost $2.2 billion.
Preliminary estimates . . .
$8.6 BILLION IN 9/11 BUSINESS INTERRUPTION CLAIMS STILL
OPEN.
Of the 5,493 business interruption claims filed as a result of the
terrorist attacks Sept. 11, 2001, some 760 remain open with a total loss
exposure of $8.6 billion, according to a . . .
MORENO APPROVES AETNA AGREEMENT IN PHYSICIAN CLASS
ACTION.
U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno of Miami has approved a
settlement agreement between Aetna and about 950,000 doctors.
Moreno delayed ruling Oct. 14 on the settlement after lawyers for
some of . . .
SENATE SCHEDULES DEBATE ON FAIR CREDIT REPORTING ACT.
The Senate approved a unanimous consent agreement Oct. 28 to put S.
1753, the National Consumer Credit Reporting System Improvement Act, on
the calendar for consideration this week.
The agreement . . .
SENATE REAUTHORIZES NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM.
The Senate, by unanimous consent Oct. 27, reauthorized the National
Flood Insurance Program through Dec. 31, 2004.
The Senate elected to extend the program for only one year in order
to examine . . .
REPUBLICAN MEDICARE CONFEREES GRIDLOCKED DESPITE BUSH
NUDGE.
Republican Medicare conferees still were at an impasse Oct. 31 over
how to reconcile differences between House- and Senate-passed
prescription drug bills for the elderly.
President Bush tried to . . .
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