Regulation/Legislation

No matter how many regulations or internal fail-safe systems an organization or a government puts in place, preventing systemic economic collapses means challenging peoples' worst instincts.

National Association of Insurance Commissioners' moves to obtain revised ratings and reassessment of capital requirements for residential-backed mortgage securities (RMBS) could give insurers more financial flexibility, said Moody's Investors Service.

A federal jury in Manhattan, after an 11 week trial, found Exxon Mobil liable for a $105 million in damages for contaminating part of the New York City well water supply.

State regulators, possibly within days, will approve the hiring of a firm to reassess the evaluations of 17,600 residential mortgage-backed securities downgraded by the major credit rating firms, an official said.

The debate over wind-versus-water homeowner claims is not quite as cut and dried thanks to a ruling by the Mississippi Supreme Court in a Hurricane Katrina case.

Medical malpractice insurance trade groups said they are gearing up to fight a proposal to cancel the antitrust exemption they are now afforded under the McCarran-Ferguson Act.