Source: Business Insurance

July 15, 2019 U.S.-based Walmart Inc. shut 124 out of 375 stores across Chile after 17,000 workers went on an indefinite strike on July 10, Supply Chain Brain reported citing sources. The workers are demanding compensation for multitasking related to an increase in automation at the retail giant’s stores.

Source: Business Insurance

July 15, 2019 U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority imposed 10 fines worth more than £319 million ($401 million) on companies in the first half of this year amid increased pressure over its alleged failure to protect customers, The Guardian reported. The total fine so far this year exceeded more than five times the amount of fines for 2018 and outstripped the combined total of £311 million for the previous three years.

Source : Business Insurance

Thomson Reuters July 12, 2019 (Reuters) — The U.S. Justice Department is pursuing a criminal probe into whether Johnson & Johnson lied about potential cancer risks of its talcum powder and has convened a grand jury in Washington, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people with knowledge of the matter. The Bloomberg report said the grand jury was looking into documents related to what company officials knew about any carcinogens in their products. J&J disclosed in its annual report in February that it had received subpoenas from the Justice Department and U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission related to the ongoing baby powder litigation but did not give more details.

Source: Business Insurance

Thomson Reuters July 12, 2019 (Reuters) — New Orleans officials warned city residents to stock up on supplies and prepare to shelter in their homes on Friday as “life-threatening” Tropical Storm Barry was poised to come ashore as possibly the first Atlantic hurricane of 2019. While the tempest did not yet have hurricane-force winds, it was forecast to bring torrential rains of up to 25 inches in certain places, which officials said risked flooding along the already swollen lower Mississippi River.

Source: Business Insurance

July 10, 2019 Heavy rains and floods struck northern Spain on July 8, damaging roads, inundating retailers and causing power outages in the region, Daily Mail reported. The floods swept away cars, disrupted railway services and forced authorities to close six roads in the Navarra region.

Source: Business Insurance

July 10, 2019 U.K.-based Information Commissioner’s Office is proposing to fine U.S.-based hotel operator Marriott International Inc. £99.2 million ($124 million) under the General Data Protection Regulation after hackers stole 339 million guests’ records, The Guardian reported. The data regulator said that 30 million of the hacked guest records involve residents of 31 countries in the European Economic Area. U.K.-based Information Commissioner’s Office is proposing to fine U.S.-based hotel operator Marriott International Inc. £99.2 million ($124 million) under the General Data Protection Regulation after hackers stole 339 million guests’ records, The Guardian reported. The data regulator said that 30 million of the hacked guest records involve residents of 31 countries in the European Economic Area.

Source: Business Insurance

Claire Wilkinson July 09, 2019 Equipment breakdown now rivals fire loss in both frequency and severity of claims, driven by the booming economy and human influence, according to an FM Global analysis of large property-related losses greater than $3 million released Tuesday. Of the 232 large risk losses reported to the Johnston, Rhode Island-based insurer last year, 65 were due to equipment breakdown resulting in 28% of its losses across all industries in 2018 based on gross loss dollar amount, the company said in a statement. “During the last five years we’ve seen increasing numbers of losses from equipment breakdown, especially in the pulp and paper, chemical, electric utility and mining industries,” Brion Callori, FM Global senior vice president of engineering and research, said in the statement. Lack of maintenance was a factor in two-thirds of equipment breakdown losses in 2018, while nearly half had a significant human element impact or influence, FM Global said. “In a booming economy, many companies aren’t necessarily taking their facilities offline for preventive maintenance,” Mr. Callori said in the statement. Operator training was a factor in 43% of equipment losses, highlighting the need for improved training and knowledge transfer as the industry sees significant turnover due to demographic changes, the insurer said. Large risk losses are those losses greater than $3 million reported to the insurer that do not include natural hazard loss.

Source: Business Insurance

Gavin Souter July 09, 2019 The owners of an 831(b) captive that the Internal Revenue Service ruled did not qualify for various tax benefits is suing the lawyer who allegedly advised them to establish the microcaptive.Benyamin and Orna Avrahami, who own a jewelry firm and various other businesses in Phoenix, last week sued Celia Clark, a former partner and now of counsel at Clark & Gentry PLLC in New York, alleging that Ms. Clark and her firm knew that the “captive insurance strategies” she recommended “did not provide insurance recognized under the Internal Revenue Code,” court papers say. The Avrahamis’ relied on Ms. Clark for advice on “complex insurance and tax matters, including tax law and captive insurance,” according to the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in Phoenix and seeks class action status

Source: Business Insurance

July 08, 2019 The International Olympic Committee said that it paid nearly $13 million for games cancellation insurance for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2018, up from $5 million for the previous games in Sochi, Russia, Inside The Games reported. The run-up to the Olympics in South Korea involved increasing international tension after North Korea conducted several missile tests.

Source: Business Insurance

July 08, 2019 A Venezuelan official said that a power outage occurred at the Amuay and Cardon oil refineries in the Paraguana peninsula on July 6, Channel News Asia reported citing sources. Luis Stefanelli, a deputy at Venezuela’s parliament, said that production at the refineries has currently fallen to about 80,000 barrels of gasoline a day from 950,000 barrels previously during peak production.