What’s New: In Brief (March 03, 2008)

A Vancouver provincial court has sentenced Hiu Qin Zhang of Vancouver to nine months’ conditional house arrest for attempting to bribe an ICBC driver examiner.
Zhang attended ICBC’s Point Grey Driver Service Centre on Jan. 15, 2007 to take her Class 7 road test. Prior to leaving the parking lot for the driving portion of the test, Zhang placed two Cdn$100 bills on the driver examiner’s seat.
The examiner promptly terminated the test and directed Zhang back into the Driver Service Centre.
On Mar. 5, 2007, ICBC’s Special Investigation Unit took a statement from Zhang. According to her statement, Zhang had offered the driver examiner a ‘tip’ to help ensure she passed the exam.
In the spring of 2007, Zhang was charged with offering to bribe a public official, an offence under the Criminal Code of Canada, Section 121(1).
She recently attended Vancouver Provincial Court and pleaded guilty to the offence.

XL Insurance, the global insurance operations of XL Capital Ltd (NYSE: XL), is making available excess professional liability coverage, with limits up to $25 million, for architectural and engineering (A/E) firms.
“XL Insurance’s excess liability coverage now offers architects and engineers the opportunity to reinforce their primary layer of professional liability protection with XL Insurance’s financial strength and to benefit from the most knowledgeable underwriters and claims handlers dedicated to serving the A/E industry,” said John Glancy, the chief underwriting officer of XL Insurance’s global professional operations.
The A/E professional liability excess coverage will be provided by Indian Harbor Insurance Company, a member of the XL Insurance group of companies.