What’s New: In Brief (March 09, 2009)

ICBC invested roughly Cdn$9 million last year on 280 road improvement projects and engineering studies in 81 communities.
ICBC launched the Road Improvement Program in 1989; it has since invested roughly Cdn$88 million on road improvements in British Columbia.
The program works in partnership with municipalities and the provincial government to make roads safer. An independent evaluation of ICBC-funded road improvements found that, measured over a two-year period after a project’s completion, ICBC saves $4 in claims costs for every $1 dollar invested.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its counterparty credit rating on Hartford Financial Services Group Inc to BBB from BBB+.
Additionally, it lowered its counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on all of HIG’s life (Hartford Life) and property/casualty (Hartford Fire) operating subsidiaries to A from A+.
The outlook on all these companies is negative, according to a release.
“The downgrade reflects our opinion that Hartford’s earnings, capitalization, and financial flexibility have been weakened considerably by the deepening equity market decline, continuing volatility, and significant asset impairments in the past two quarters,” Shellie Stoddard, credit analyst at S&P, noted in the release.