Coming off a remarkable 2025, which saw the registration of new collateralized insurer class of companies in Bermuda climb to its highest level ever, early indicators for Q1 2026 suggest a continuation of this growth trend with seven new special purpose insurers (SPIs) and two new collateralized insurers having registered in Bermuda during the opening quarter.The latest data available from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) shows that company structures for use in insurance-linked securities arrangements, as well as other alternative or third-party reinsurance capital related use-cases, remains very strong in 2026. As we previously reported, in full-year 2025, the number…
Author: Awais
House Bill 1186, signed into law by the Governor, overhauls the state’s insurance and liability framework for peer-to-peer car sharing programs, the platforms that connect vehicle owners with drivers to enable the sharing of motor vehicles for financial consideration. The bill was introduced on February 11, 2026, by Delegates Mike Rogers, Scott Phillips, Nicole Williams, and Gabriel Moreno, and assigned to the Judiciary Committee, which returned a favorable report with amendments. The bill was read a second time on March 4, 2026, and the House adopted the committee report with amendments. Following Senate passage, the Governor signed it into law.…
A congressional subcommittee on April 16 held a roundtable discussion on the potential of artificial intelligence, which took a turn toward the existential as each lawmaker aired their anxieties about the rapidly evolving technology. Rep. James Walkinshaw, D-Va., expressed alarm that federal workers may be using AI chatbots to handle sensitive government data. Rep. William Timmons, R-S.C., asked whether it should be illegal for AI systems to use someone’s likeness to create pornographic images. Rep. John McGuire, R-Va., expressed concerns that AI systems could deny U.S. military forces from taking lethal actions due to a model’s conclusion for “moral” behavior.…
Sugar tycoons Jose “Pepe” Fanjul and Alfonso “Alfy” Fanjul Jr. have a plan to dig up thousands of acres of the Florida Everglades for rock that the state needs to build roads. One of the brothers’ billionaire neighbors in Palm Beach leads a group who want to stop them. The Fanjuls fled Cuba after Fidel Castro’s takeover and built a sugar empire with colossal political might, amassing a fortune of more than $6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Pepe Fanjul, 81, Alfy Fanjul, 88, and their family own sugar refineries in several countries, along with brands like Domino…
In this episode of IB Talk, Insurance Business editor Gia Snape sits down with Howden US’ Jared Dubrowski to unpack a growing blind spot in the global push toward sustainability: the hidden risks embedded in green energy technologies.As investment pours into solar, wind and battery storage, these assets are widely seen as environmentally friendly alternatives to carbon-based energy. But Dubrowski challenges that assumption, pointing to a critical issue often overlooked by project owners and insurers alike—the full lifecycle of these technologies.From lithium-ion battery fires to the disposal of aging solar panels, the conversation explores how environmental exposures don’t…
A UPS cargo plane had to abort its landing in Louisville last week when a small plane crossed the runway just as it approached. The air traffic controller yelled “Skylab 25, stop!” at the small plane before quickly ordering the UPS plane to pull up and perform a maneuver called a go-around to avert another tragedy at Louisville’s Muhammad Ali International Airport, which is a major hub for UPS. The audio was posted online by www.LiveATC.net. Just last November, a UPS plane crashed after an engine fell off as it was rolling down the runway to take off. The National…
Some Texas oil wells gush hundreds of barrels of oil a day. But many are like the wells on Jackie Chesnutt’s ranch in West Texas that only trickle out a couple barrels a month. Chesnutt, a retired engineer, claims the five wells operating on her ranch are out of compliance with state rules and should be shut down. The company, CORE Petro, says that it’s struggling to break even, let alone pay to plug the wells. But it says that all its wells are in compliance. There are thousands of oil and gas wells around Texas like these: low-producing wells…
Republicans largely praised the HHS secretary’s track record during a marathon of House hearings last week, but some GOP lawmakers raised concerns about proposed budget cuts to the National Institutes of Health.
Swingle Collins & Associates announced the appointment of Dan Curtis as Chief Executive Officer, effective March 31, 2026. In conjunction with the appointment, Founder and CEO Frank Swingle will transition to the role of Executive Chairman, where he will continue to provide strategic guidance to the organization. Curtis joined Swingle Collins one year ago as President, quickly establishing himself as a transformative leader committed to the agency’s core values of passion, expertise, advocacy, collaboration, and empathy. His elevation to CEO reflects the board’s confidence in his vision and his ability to lead the company through its next chapter of growth…
A trail of damaged homes and buildings dotted a wide swath of the U.S. on Saturday after a burst of destructive winds and reported tornadoes tore off roofs, uprooted trees and rendered rural roads impassable with debris. No deaths were reported following Friday’s storms, which barreled through the Upper Midwest and delivered the latest round of severe weather to batter the region. Officials braced residents for a long recovery in some rural communities. “We are extremely fortunate that this storm did not result in loss of life or serious injury,” Stephenson County Sheriff Steve Stovall said of the storm that…
Local, state and federal officials were aware of the dangers posed by the Cheboygan Lock and Dam for years before floodwaters pushed it to the brink of collapse, records show. Yet they failed to compel private owners to repair the nonfunctional hydro plant connected to the publicly-owned dam — a critical piece of its ability to pass floodwaters downstream. The facility that houses the plant, once a Charmin toilet paper mill, changed hands repeatedly over decades as it fell into disrepair. Now taxpayers are helping bankroll a desperate effort to bring the plant back online before the dam fails and…
Brown & Riding is celebrating being named among this year’s 5-Star Wholesale Brokerages and MGAs. In this interview, chief distribution officer Cristi Carrington explains the story behind the success, how it delivers for retailers and how its ownership structure plays into its long-term strategy.
Brandi Carter needs her wine. As the owner of Levure Bottle Shop in Jackson, Mississippi, she sells natural wine delivered to her business by a state agency responsible for distributing alcoholic beverages to liquor stores, bars and restaurants. But delays caused by problems in a state warehouse have led Carter and many other retailers to see their inventory dwindle and their business drop as they wait for new shipments. Carter, who also handles the beverage program for a restaurant in Jackson, said she has been dealing with delays since February, and she’s feeling helpless as traffic in her store goes…
The catastrophe bond and insurance-linked securities sector can be a significant beneficiary of the revolution in artificial intelligence (AI), with applications such as process improvement, enhanced underwriting and analytics, as well as powering the ILS industry to do more, speakers discussed at the SIFMA ILS conference in Miami last week.One of the panels at SIFMA’s annual insurance-linked securities conference last week spoke about the implications of artificial intelligence within ILS and how the industry is adopting it. Bobby Bray, Senior Vice President, Insurance-Linked Securities Origination and Structuring at Guy Carpenter’s specialist capital markets unit GC Securities, said he sees meaningful…