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WALGREEN TO SELL BENEFIT BUSINESS

Walgreen Co. plans to sell its pharmacy benefit management business to Catalyst Health Solutions Inc. in a $525 million cash deal. Walgreen is the largest U.S. drugstore operator but was a small player in the pharmacy benefit management industry. The deal is expected to close by the end of June, the company said.

American International Group Inc. has repaid another $6.9 billion of its bailout, the U.S. Treasury said in March. The Treasury said it has now recovered 70 percent of the $411 billion distributed under the crisis-era Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. AIG paid the Treasury $6.6 billion from the proceeds of its sale of shares in insurer MetLife Inc.

XL INSURANCE TAPS THREE SENIOR EXECS

XL Insurance reported appointments in March announcing that Quinnon (Pete) K. Purvis has joined the company as president of North America programs. Purvis joins XL from Lexington Insurance Co. She reports to Seraina Maag, XL Insurance's North America property/casualty chief executive. In addition, Mark R. Mahanna and Christopher A. Bressette, who also joined XL from Lexington Insurance Co., were named to new posts as senior vice presidents of North America programs. Mahanna and Bressette report to Purvis. All three men are based in Boston.

NATIONAL FLOOD PROGRAM AGAIN UNDER REVIEW

Congress is again to trying to rescue the National Flood Insurance Program. A subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives will tackle the troubled NFIP, which insures more than 5.5 million homeowners and businesses nationwide. The NFIP is $17.7 billion in debt, much of it racked up in the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes.

MORGAN STANLEY LOWERS 1Q ESTIMATES AGAIN

Based on property/casualty companies' announcements and other data, losses from the Feb. 22 New Zealand earthquake damages could be as much as three-times worse than the September quake in the same region, Morgan Stanley said.

In an industry view on property/casualty insurance, Morgan Stanley said it is revising downward its expected 2011 first-quarter earnings per share for the eight global reinsurers it follows based on earthquake loss estimates. Morgan Stanley said in March that this is the third time in seven weeks it has lowered first-quarter estimates.

JAPAN INSURERS TO BEAR QUAKE BRUNT

Domestic insurers and Japan's earthquake reinsurance entity are expected to take the brunt of losses from the March 11 earthquake that hit northeastern Japan. Estimated insured losses for property ranges from $15 billion to more than $35 billion. The estimates are preliminary and exclude tsunami-related damage and the potential losses from damage caused by crippled nuclear power plants, according to risk modeler AIR Worldwide.

--Compiled by staff from news and wire reports

April 1, 2011

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