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Intact Financial Corp (IFC.TO), Canada’s largest property and casualty insurer, said it would buy U.S.-based specialty insurer OneBeacon Insurance Group Ltd (OB.N) for $1.7 billion, creating a specialty insurer focused on small- and mid-sized businesses. The $18.10 cash offer represented a 15.3 percent premium to OneBeacon’s Tuesday close. Shares of OneBeacon, controlled by White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd, were...

Law360, New York (April 24, 2017, 5:18 PM EDT) — A surety bond company has agreed to pay just under $10 million to settle claims that a customer, debt-settlement payment processor Meracord LLC, charged illegal fees to debt-relief customers. Fidelity and Deposit Co. of Maryland will pay $9.875 million to the class if the settlement is approved, according to...

Shift since the Great Recession toward increasingly complex projects with shorter deadlines has placed increased, novel risks on construction contractors A major shift in the construction industry as it has recovered from the Great Recession is increasingly complex building projects with shorter deadlines. The dynamic has created increased and novel risks. Since bonding is a crucial risk-management tool in...

White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. completed its $2.6 billion sale of Sirius International Insurance Group to a division of China Minsheng Investment Corp. Ltd., nine months after the deal was first announced.Out of that total, White Mountains used $160 million to buy out some Sirius assets it plans to keep, including some OneBeacon shares, according to White Mountains. White...

There are two main issues, involving the general public, hounding the surety-bond industry. First is the proliferation of fake bonds. Second is the presence of delinquent bonding companies. With respect to fake bonds, it is usually government offices that fall victim to this nefarious activity. A number of administrative circulars have been issued by the Insurance Commission (IC) to...

Historically, it could be said that corporate pension scheme funding represented a topic which had long occupied a lowly position on the agendas of many employers. However, with regulation tightening and market conditions negatively impacting on un-hedged schemes – coupled with increased media attention – employers’ obligations are coming under intensified scrutiny, and shortcomings in funding positions have never...

Many professionals in the financial and real estate industries undergo their licensing procedure via the National Multistate Licensing System and Registry (NMLS). The NMLS handles the licensing data of numerous types of specialists such as mortgage brokers, originators and lenders, money transmitters, and collection agencies, among others. While the licensing bodies for different states and trades varies, all documents...

Launches Sompo International, to be its first fully integrated global commercial insurance and reinsurance platform TOKYO and HAMILTON, Bermuda, March 28, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Further to the announcement made on 5 October 2016, SOMPO Holdings, Inc. (“SOMPO”) is pleased to announce that following approval of the applicable regulatory authorities, as well as the satisfaction of other customary closing...

The Supreme Court of Canada announced Thursday it will hear an appeal from a subcontractor on an oilsands project who is trying to sue a general contractor for failing to inform it of the existence of a surety bond. Court records indicate that Langford Electric Ltd. was a subcontractor to Bird Construction Company, which required Langford to obtain a...

According to Markel International, brokers have been asking for it – and now they’re going to get it. The company followed up on its announcement that it will enter the surety market last month by declaring earlier today that it is starting to write surety business after making two key appointments – with the business to initially focus on...