INSURANCE NEWSCAST "Headlines Only Edition" for: Monday, 05/21/07

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INSURANCE NEWSCAST can be read online at www.insurancebroadcasting.com

INSURANCE NEWSCAST "Headlines Only Edition" for: Monday, 05/21/07

Here is a quick look at the stories that will be in Monday's INSURANCE NEWSCAST.

Insurance adds fuel to heated M&A bid battles - font face="Arial" size=2Fri May 18, 2007 5:45AM EDT - By Simon Challis, European Insurance Correspondent - LONDON, May 18 (Reuters) - Insurance that frees sellers of firms from tying up lots of cash as guarantees in acquisition deals is increasingly being used by deal-hungry private equity firms to gain an advantage in bidding auctions for unlisted companies, industry executives say.

Voluntary Sales Rebound in 2006 Based on Eastbridge?s Study of 61 Leading Carriers - May 17, 2007 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time  - AVON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For the prior three years (2002 through 2005), industry voluntary sales have increased an average of 2.7 percent a year. While better than many segments of the insurance industry, that pace was well off the pre-2002, double-digit growth rates. But the slow-growth trend seems to have reversed itself in 2006, with estimated worksite sales of $4.715 billion?an 8 percent increase over 2005.

font face="Arial" size=2PIANJ supports bill to eliminate outdated producer requirements - May 17, 2007 - TRENTON, N.J.?The Professional Insurance Agents of New Jersey Inc.?s President Andrew H. Anderson, CIC, recently provided written testimony to the New Jersey Assembly Financial Institutions and Insurance Committee in support of bill number A-3863. The bill would eliminate the requirements for auto agents to provide quotes for all their companies and to provide three insurance scenarios to applicants. PIANJ and the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New Jersey secured introduction of the bill in January 2007. Both producer groups and insurance company trade groups supported the measure.

Marsh CEO sees 20 pct profit margin in key unit - font face="Arial" size=2Thu May 17, 2007 2:23PM EDT - NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. (MMC.N: Quote, Profile, Research Chief Executive Michael Cherkasky said on Thursday he expects to have 20 percent or better profit margins for his company's risk and insurance unit, which is undergoing a difficult restructuring. - Cherkasky said in the meeting that Marsh was continuing the ongoing restructuring started when he took over late in 2004. In the first quarter, he replaced a third of the office heads at the brokerage unit, including those in charge of the 10 largest.

Bank of America sued for race discrimination - Fri May 18, 2007 8:30AM EDT - NEW YORK, May 18 (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp. (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research has been sued for alleged discrimination against African-American bankers and brokers, court papers show. - The complaint, filed Thursday at the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, accuses the second-largest U.S. bank of regularly discriminating with respect to work assignments, training and access to clients. -- The plaintiffs, who seek class-action status, said Bank of America had disproportionately "steered" African-Americans bankers and brokers to largely minority or low-net-worth clients.

U.S. authorities probe stock lending scheme - By Martha Graybow and Jonathan Stempel - NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. authorities are investigating employees of Wall Street banks over alleged kickbacks involving securities lending to investors who try to profit when shares fall, a person familiar with the matter said on Thursday. - The probe involving loans to so-called short sellers is being conducted by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New York, and may lead to criminal charges stemming from the alleged stock loan schemes, this person said.

Sun Life Financial Named Top Variable Annuity Provider by Banks - Wellesley, MA (May 18, 2007) ? The U.S. division of Sun Life Financial - (NYSE: SLF, TSX: SLF) has been named as the Top Variable Annuity Provider by the 2006 Study of Bank Brokerage & Retail Investment Services conducted by American Brokerage Consultants and American Banker.  Sun Life was also ranked as the third best fixed annuity provider by the survey. - The survey (which also appears in the May issue of Bank Investment Consultant) reflects rankings of 18 major variable annuity providers by 115 bank program managers and 20 major fixed annuity providers by 108 bank program managers.  Annuity providers were ranked in 10 different categories.

Three Doctors Arrested in Unity Outpatient Surgery Center Scam for Performing Unnecessary Surgeries and Fraudulent Insurance Billing - font face="Arial" size=2SANTA ANA - The California Department of Insurance and the Orange County District Attorney's Office have arrested three doctors in the largest medical fraud prosecution in the nation. The doctors are the latest charged defendants in the Unity Outpatient Surgery Center (Unity) scheme and are accused of performing unnecessary surgical procedures and fraudulently billing over $30 million to medical insurance companies. The Franchise Tax Board and the Medical Board of California have provided substantial assistance in this investigation.

ING Lifestyle Portfolios Surpass $8 Billion Milestone - WEST CHESTER, Pa., May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ING Variable Annuities, a marketing arm of ING U.S. Financial Services, has announced that its ING LifeStyle investment portfolios within its variable annuity products have reached a milestone; surpassing $8 billion in total assets at the close April 2007. The ING LifeStyle portfolios were introduced as an investment option for variable annuity investors in mid-2004, and rapidly surpassed $4 billion in total assets at the close of 2005.

Evolution Benefits and The Bancorp Bank Team Up to Offer Health Savings Accounts With the Benny? Prepaid Benefits Card That Coordinates With Other Benefits - May 17, 2007 11:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time - AVON, Conn. & WILMINGTON, Del.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Evolution Benefits Inc. (EB) and The Bancorp Bank announced today that they have entered into an agreement to provide an integrated solution combining The Bancorp Bank?s health savings accounts and EB?s prepaid benefits card known as Benny? to support advanced consumer-directed healthcare programs. The companies? integrated product will be available in early June.

Russia clears Allianz purchase of Progress insurer - font face="Arial" size=2Fri May 18, 2007 10:24AM EDT - MOSCOW, May 18 (Reuters) - Russia's antimonopoly agency has conditionally cleared Germany's Allianz (ALVG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research to purchase mid-sized insurer Progress-Garant, which previously belonged to bankrupt oil firm YUKOS, the agency said on Friday. Allianz already owns nearly 97 percent of Rosno, Russia's third-largest insurance player. It paid $750 million for control in Rosno to Russian conglomerate Sistema (SSAq.L: Quote, Profile, Research in February.

Genworth Financial Announces Accelerated Share Repurchase - RICHMOND, Va., May 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Genworth Financial, Inc. (NYSE: GNW) announced that it has repurchased approximately 16.5 million shares of its common stock from Merrill Lynch International using an accelerated stock repurchase agreement for an initial purchase price of $600 million. The repurchase allows Genworth to mitigate the dilutive impact of the common stock issued pursuant to the conversion of the company's equity units on May 16, 2007. The repurchase was effected pursuant to the company's previously announced $1.1 billion share repurchase program.

White Mountains Re Group, Ltd. Prices $250 Million of its Fixed/Floating Perpetual Non-Cumulative Preference Shares - HAMILTON, Bermuda, May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. ("White Mountains") (NYSE: WTM) announced today that its wholly-owned subsidiary, White Mountains Re Group, Ltd. ("White Mountains Re"), has entered into an agreement to sell 250,000 fixed/floating perpetual non-cumulative preference shares, liquidation preference $1,000 per share (the "Preference Shares") in an offering exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The Preference Shares are perpetual securities with no fixed maturity date that will pay a fixed semi-annual dividend at an annual rate of 7.506% until June 30, 2017 if declared by the Board of White Mountains Re. After such date, the Preference Shares will pay quarterly dividends at a floating annual rate equal to the greater of the three-month LIBOR plus 3.200% or 7.506% if declared by the Board of White Mountains Re. Dividends on the Preference Shares are non- cumulative.

United Security Bancshares Cancels 10b5-1 Plan - font face="Arial" size=2FRESNO, Calif., May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - United Security Bancshares (Nasdaq: UBFO) Board of Directors today announced it accepted a request by its Company Chairman and CEO, Dennis R. Woods and his spouse, to cancel their pre-arranged stock trading plan, adopted in accordance with the guidelines specified under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. - Their pre-arranged stock trading plan was previously announced on July 28, 2006 to disclose their intent to sell Company stock over a 16-month period for estate planning purposes. Under the plan, they were to sell 5,000 shares monthly for 16 months or 80,000 shares of Company stock between July 2006 and November 2007, amounting to 9.22% of his then holdings.

Synergy Launches New Program to Write Small Hard-to-Place Law Firms - KINNELON, N.J., May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Synergy Professional Associates has been appointed program administrator for a new program to underwrite professional liability for small hard-to-place law firms. The program is backed by Beazley, a leading professional liability insurer of U.S. law firms.

SBA Approves More Than $4 Million in Disaster Loans for Storm and Flood Victims in New York - NEW YORK, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- More than $4 million in U. S. Small Business Administration Disaster Assistance Loans have been approved for residents and business owners in New York who were victims of the severe storms, inland and coastal flooding April 14 - 18, 2007. -- "Currently, 86 home and business disaster loans have been approved in the amount of $4,008,300 for victims," according to Frank Skaggs, Director of SBA Field Operations Center East. "We are pleased to be able to get these loans approved so the residents of New York can start rebuilding and begin resuming their normal lives."

Dickinson Wright PLLC Combines with Artz & Artz to Form Intellectual Property Powerhouse - DETROIT, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Dickinson Wright PLLC, a nationally recognized full-service law firm, announced today that it is broadening and strengthening its intellectual property practice through a combination with Southfield, Michigan-based intellectual property firm Artz & Artz. The combination is effective June 1.

Farmers® Announces New Scholarship Program - LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Farmers Insurance Group has joined with the United Negro College Fund to create a new ?Farmers Insurance Group Emerging Scholars Program? that will formally be announced at the UNCF?s Walk for Education, Saturday, May 19 in Los Angeles, CA. The Walk takes place from 7:30 a.m. ? 1 p.m. in Exposition Park.

Freeman & Co. Advised ESP Technologies on Private Equity Investment From Affiliates of Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse and Susquehanna - NEW YORK, May 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Freeman & Co., LLC, a leading independent advisor to the financial services industry, announced today that it advised ESP Technologies, the parent company of Electronic Specialist, LLC (ESP), on investments with affiliates of Bear Stearns, Credit Suisse and Susquehanna International Group.

ESP Secures Private Equity Investment - NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ESP Technologies LLC, the parent company of Electronic Specialist, LLC (ESP), has announced that it has closed investments with affiliates of Credit Suisse, Bear Stearns, and Susquehanna International Group. Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

AIA Urges Auto Insurance Competition In Massachusetts For Immediate Release - BOSTON, May 18, 2007 ? The American Insurance Assocation (AIA) today urged Massachusetts Insurance Commissioner Nonnie Burnes to move the state auto insurance rating system to a competitive model.   AIA?s comments came in testimony at a hearing on whether to move to competition or maintain the ?fix and establish? system.

Pure High Net Worth Insurance In Production With Guidewire Claimcenter - WHITE PLAINS, NY and SAN MATEO, CA, May 17, 2007 ? PURE High Net Worth Insurance (PURE), a provider of property and casualty insurance products that address the unique exposure needs of High Net Worth individuals and families, and Guidewire Software® (Guidewire®), a leading provider of solutions to property and casualty insurers, today announced that PURE has deployed Guidewire?s industry leading ClaimCenter system. Guidewire ClaimCenter will support the end-to-end claims process for all of PURE?s lines of business, including high value homeowner?s insurance, private fleet automobile, personal excess liability and jewelry & art.

The Hartford Teams Up with Dick Vitale in Fight Against Cancer The Hartford becomes the presenting sponsor for the TV analyst?s  Gala to support The V Foundation for Cancer Research - HARTFORD, Conn. ? The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG), a pioneer in efforts to make life insurance more accessible and affordable to cancer survivors, is teaming up with popular college basketball TV analyst Dick Vitale to support cancer research. - The Hartford is the presenting sponsor of the Dick Vitale Gala to benefit The V Foundation for Cancer Research today at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Sarasota, Fla.  As presenting sponsor, The Hartford is contributing $50,000 to The V Foundation, which was established by the late basketball coach and broadcaster, Jim Valvano, and ESPN. 

Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) Washington Governor Signing Bad Faith Bill Bad Idea - May 17, 2007 - The Professional Insurance Agents (PIA) of Washington is discouraged over the decision of Governor Chris Gregoire to sign Washington?s bad faith bill ESSB 5726 into law.  -- PIA Washington/Alaska Executive Vice President Clark Sitzes said the PIA agrees with the American Insurance Association (AIA), the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC), and the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America (PCI) that this is bad public policy, bad for consumers and bad for business in Washington State.

Columbian Mutual Life Celebrates 125 Years of Business - BINGHAMTON, NY ? May 2007 ? Columbian Mutual Life Insurance Company, the parent company of the Columbian Financial Group of companies, is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year.  Thomas E. Rattmann, Columbian?s President, CEO and Chairman of the Board, is proud of this anniversary and the company?s dedication to its roots:  ?Not many companies can say that they have been in business for 125 years.  From our first days, Columbian has been a company whose success is based on commitment ? commitment to the fair treatment of our customers, our field force and our employees.?

Florida Agents Bring Relief to Counterparts in Kansas - Greensburg, Kan. ? The Florida Association of Insurance Agents' state-of-the-art catastrophe response vehicle (CRV) arrived in Greensburg, Kan. earlier this week to assist insurance agents whose offices were demolished by the tornado last week. The fully equipped mobile response unit will provide the agents with immediate access to customer records and policies so they can facilitate the claims process.

Unum CEO Watjen Touts Progress at Annual Meeting - font face="Arial" size=2COLUMBIA, S.C. (May 18, 2007) ? In his comments to stockholders at the company?s annual meeting today, Thomas R. Watjen, president and CEO of Unum Group, said the company has made significant progress over the past four years and is now building sustainable momentum. 

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