Risk and regulation
Travelers Cos. Inc. and fully owned subsidiary St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co. filed a claim against U.K.-based financial services group Old Mutual Plc in a U.S. court in connection with pre-existing head office legacy items linked to previously disposed-of assets in the U.S.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission granted an early termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act for Kemper Corp.'s $1.32 billion bid to acquire Infinity Property & Casualty Corp.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has vacated the U.S. Department of Labor's Conflict of Interest Rule in its entirety, reversing a lower district court ruling that upheld the measure.
Property and casualty
The U.S. commercial insurance sector experienced slightly higher pricing during the fourth quarter of 2017, but pricing growth remained under 1% on average for the 10th consecutive quarter.
Freddie Mac and a panel of insurance companies are partnering for a pilot mortgage insurance program, a Freddie Mac spokesperson confirmed.
Share prices of mortgage insurance companies took a hit with the announcement of a pilot program that would create an alternative to private mortgage insurance for certain Freddie Mac loans.
Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Enstar Group Ltd., Catalina Holdings (Bermuda) Ltd. and Armour are among the likely bidders for Zurich Insurance Group AG's North American asbestos book with around $500 million of reserves, The Insurance Insider reported.
Climate change poses several threats to the insurance industry, particularly to the property and casualty insurance and reinsurance sectors, Moody's Investors Service said in a report.
Life and health
Centene Corp. completed the acquisition of Community Medical Holdings Corp., which does business as Community Medical Group from CMG Holding Co. LLC.
Aetna Inc. and CVS Health Corp. shareholders voted to approve CVS Health's acquisition of Aetna.
UnitedHealth Group Inc. said former GlaxoSmithKline PLC CEO Andrew Witty will become CEO of Optum as Larry Renfro, who headed the health services business, was tapped to lead UnitedHealth's enterprise growth efforts and Optum's investment initiatives.
The board of America's Health Insurance Plans appointed Matt Eyles president and CEO.
UnitedHealth ended its bid to acquire Envision Healthcare Corp., Bloomberg News reported, citing "people familiar with the matter."
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