Credit Crunch Today

AIG
American Insurance Group
American Insurance Group
Largest Insurance firm in the US.
BofA
Bank of America
David Paterson
Governor of New York
Distort and Short
Strategy allegedly used by some short-sellers to drive down the share price of companies.
John Thain
Last CEO of an independent Merrill Lynch (2008)
Lehman Brothers
Once great investment bank bought down in the Credit Crunch.
Lehman Brothers International (Europe)
Lehman Brothers European subsidiary based in London.
Naked short-selling
Short selling where the seller does not borrow the shares first.
Short-sellers
Traders who aim to profit from share declines. Typically they borrow a stock, sell it and buy it back after its price has decreased.

Hanover Insurance Group

The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. (NYSE:THG) , based in Worcester, Mass., is the holding company for a group of insurers that includes The Hanover Insurance Company, also based in Worcester; Citizens Insurance Company of America, headquartered in Howell, Mich., and their affiliates. The Hanover offers a wide range of property and casualty products and services to individuals, families and businesses through an extensive network of independent agents, and has been meeting its obligations to its agent partners and their customers for more than 150 years. Taken as a group, The Hanover ranks among the top 40 property and casualty insurers in the United States.

Berkshire Hathaway Not Bidding for RBS Insurance

Berkshire Hathaway will not bid for the $14 billion auction of the Royal Bank of Scotland's insurance business.
The firm, owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett, has not given a reason for the pull-out.

"Although we had looked at it, we are not participating in the bidding," said Debbie Bosanek of Berkshire Hathaway.

The bank has also refused to comment, the Financial Times reports.

Buyers still left in the auction include Assicurazioni Generali SPA, AXA SA, Allianz SE and Zurich Financial AG.

Several private equity groups have already been excluded for not being able to raise the funds necessary.

Insurers Direct Line and Churchill, both owned by the bank, are for sale in the auction.

The deadline for bids is May 28th.