Author name: Bond-Pro Webmaster

‘We just can’t afford to let our infrastructure continue to age,’ Mayor John Tory says Toronto has embarked on its “busiest” construction season ever with slightly more than $1 billion budgeted this year for work on roads, bridges, expressways, sewers and water mains, Mayor John Tory says. “We just can’t afford to let our infrastructure continue to age,” Tory told reporters at a news conference at city hall on Monday. “We’ve got to get on with the construction season.” Toronto’s transportation and water infrastructure is used by millions of city residents, businesses and visitors every day and that infrastructure needs to be reviewed, renewed and upgraded to ensure the city can cope with booming growth, he said. “Over time, that use by all of those people, increasing numbers of people, takes its toll.” Tory described the schedule as “robust” and the funding commitments as “massive.” The projects will ultimately improve daily life in Toronto, he added. Expect a ‘busier’ summer, mayor says The mayor said the projects will cause disruption but it’s important to remember that each project represents tax dollars at work. “It will be a busier summer, with all of this work on our roads taking place.” The mayor said the money set aside for infrastructure projects needs to “stay put.” Cuts by the provincial government could put these commitments at risk, he added. Projects ‘need to be planned well in advance’ “Our city cannot afford to make tough financial decisions after the budget has already been approved. These investments need to be planned well in advance,” he said. “We will remind everyone, including the government of Ontario, that Toronto is the economic engine of this province and this country.” The planned work will result in paving of about 140 kilometres of roads and improvements to about 200 kilometres of sewers and water mains, the city said in a news release on Monday. Construction will take place across Toronto on more than 600 roads. The city said it will try to co-ordinate construction to minimize disruption. Read More … https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/busiest-construction-season-launched-toronto-john-tory-1.5134369

WASHINGTON, May 7, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) recognizes the Office of Surety Guarantees award winners for their continued work to help small contracting businesses acquire surety bonds. Three SBA surety bond partners were selected to receive awards based on their participation, activity, claims and recovery, and their commitment to helping small businesses obtain contracts with both government and private sector entities. Crum & Forster was recognized as Surety of the Year. The Surety Place and Kenneth Turner of KOG International, Inc. were honored as Surety Agency of the Year and Surety Agent of the Year, respectively. “The success of the Surety Bond Guarantee (SBG) Program is a direct result of our great relationship with the surety industry. The awards are an important way to recognize and thank our partners for helping small and emerging businesses requiring surety credit in the marketplace,” said Peter C. Gibbs, Director for the Office of Surety Guarantees. Surety of the Year award recipient, Crum & Forster, has been a participant in the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Prior Approval program since 2017. Despite their short time as an SBA partner surety company, Crum & Forster has grown their activity by over 4,000% and has assisted over 100 small and emerging businesses in partnership with SBA. Crum & Forster has a history of focusing on the needs of its clients and has been providing bonding solutions since 1900 and insurance since 1822. Surety Agency of the Year, Surety Placement Services, LLC dba The Surety Place, is a bond only agency in Scottsdale, Arizona. They have been working with the SBA since 2010 providing bonds in all 50 states. Founded in 2002, The Surety Place provides tailored bonding solutions through knowledgeable staff with over 45 years of combined surety experience. The Surety Agent of the Year, Kenneth C. Turner of KOG International, Inc., has been active in the surety industry since 1996. He has developed an extensive network of surety industry contacts and with years of expertise brings these resources together to better serve his clients. Turner placed his first client in the SBA’s SBG Program in 2003 and continues to actively promote SBA-backed surety bonds to numerous small businesses today. The SBA Surety Bond Guarantee program has 36 surety partners, 350 active authorized agents nationwide and guaranteed more than 10,000 bonds with a contract value of over $6 billion in fiscal year 2018. More information about the SBA’s Surety Bond Guarantee Program is available at www.sba.gov. Questions from surety companies may be directed to Peter C. Gibbs, Director of the Office of Surety Guarantees, at [email protected]. https://insurancenewsnet.com/oarticle/sba-recognizes-the-office-of-surety-guarantees-award-winners#.XNrsCY5KiUk

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Apr 11, 2019–The XBRL US Surety Working Group, today announced the publication of a draft release of the Contractor Financials Taxonomy, which contains data standards to capture income statement and balance sheet information about contractors. The taxonomy was created by starting with an initial set of data standards contributed by Crowe LLP, a public accounting, consulting, and technology firm. The Surety Working Group, which is comprised of surety carriers, bond agents, and software companies, then further refined the data fields and definitions, and expanded on the initial set of standards. “We see a lot of variation in the financials prepared by contractors,” noted Kristen Sharpe, CPA, Credit Solutions Senior Product Manager at Crowe LLP, “XBRL standards for contractor financial statements will improve the consistency of data reported, and will also allow sureties, and bond agents to automate data collection and analysis.” Financial statement information must be collected and analyzed by bond agents and sureties during the surety underwriting process. The data is typically provided in PDF or spreadsheet format, which forces data users to manually rekey information into their financial systems before analysis can begin. The Contractor Financials Taxonomy contains approximately 420 concepts, many of which were drawn from the US GAAP Financial Reporting Taxonomy which is used today by over 6,000 public companies reporting financial statement data to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Contractor Financials Taxonomy is designed to be used in conjunction with the Work in Process (WIP) Taxonomy to help contractors provide machine-readable data to carriers. The WIP Taxonomy was also developed by the Surety Working Group. During the 60-day public exposure period, contractors, sureties, bond agents, software providers and other stakeholders are encouraged to review the data standards in the taxonomy and provide input on definitions and on elements that should be added. The public review includes a Taxonomy Guide on how to work with the taxonomy, along with sample XBRL-formatted financial documents prepared using the taxonomy. To access the public review, go to: https://xbrl.us/xbrl-taxonomy/2019-contractor/ Sponsoring organizations in the Working Group include AIG, Crowe LLP, The Hartford, Liberty Mutual Surety, Marcum LLP, the NASBP (National Association of Surety Bond Producers), Travelers, and Zurich Insurance. Participating organizations, serving as observers and advisors, include SFAA (The Surety & Fidelity Association of America) and the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board). https://www.apnews.com/Business%20Wire/59f372ad997f4309a5d879027b9601aa

A continuing bond, also called continuous bond, is a financial guarantee or a suretyship that renews automatically until it is canceled. Continuing bonds do not expire as long as the client makes the required payment for each renewal. In other words, it has an indefinite term. A continuing bond does not expire, but is canceled by the obligee by formal notice of cancellation. In the absence of such formal notice of cancellation, the surety bond is deemed canceled if the Principal is able to satisfactorily show that the undertaking of the surety bond has been fully performed by it and the same is acknowledged in writing by the obligee. In Reparations Commission v. Universal Deep-Sea Fishing Corp., a continuing bond is one whose period of insurance is indefinite or with no fixed expiration date. The bond shall be in force unless canceled by the obligee, or by the Insurance Commissioner, or by a court of competent jurisdiction, as the case may be. As a consequence, the premium for furnishing the bond and the obligation to pay the same subsists for as long as the liability of the surety exists. In Country Bankers Insurance Corp. v. Lagman, the Warehouse Bond was deemed a continuing bond and remains in force until canceled by the Administrator of the National Food Authority (obligee) and cannot be unilaterally canceled by the general agent who obligated himself in the Indemnity Agreement. With respect to the premiums due, they are collected upon the issuance of the renewal certificates annually. However, the principal is still liable for the unpaid premiums notwithstanding the nonissuance of the renewal certificates. The obligation of the principal shall cease only when the obligee consents to it. The obligation to pay the premium subsists for as long as the liability of the surety exists. The principal is obliged to pay the annual premiums as it falls due until the contract of suretyship is canceled by the obligee or by the Commissioner or by a court of competent jurisdiction, as the case may be. Under Section 179 of the Amended Insurance Code: “In the case of a continuing bond, the obligor shall pay the subsequent annual premium as it falls due until the contract of suretyship is cancelled by the oblige or by the Commissioner or by a court of competent jurisdiction, as the case may be.” Two examples of continuing bonds would be (a) bonds required by courts in criminal and civil actions or special proceedings, also known as judicial bonds; and (b) bonds required by the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) in labor cases. For bonds in criminal and civil actions or special proceedings, Supreme Court A.M. 04-7-02 (Guidelines on Corporate Surety Bonds) provides that: “Unless and until the Supreme Court directs otherwise, the lifetime or duration of the effectivity of any bond issued in criminal and civil actions/special proceedings, or in any proceeding or incident therein shall be from its approval by the court, until the action or proceeding is finally decided, resolved or terminated.” Examples of judicial bonds are the injunction bond, attachment bond, replevin bond, and appeal bond. For judicial bonds, the court may order the cancellation of the bond. In case the court does not include in its order or judgment the cancellation of the surety bond filed, but nonetheless terminates with finality the case, the bond may be considered as already canceled. However, it is better to file a motion with the court for the cancellation thereof. In addition, per Supreme Court Resolution under Administrative Matter 03-03-19-SC, “the lifetime or duration of the effectivity of any bond issued in civil actions or proceedings or in any accident therein shall be from its approval by the court until the action or proceedings is finally decided, resolved, or terminated.” Under Section 179 of the Amended Insurance Code, the Insurance Commissioner is authorized to cancel a contract of suretyship. Moreover, both Supreme Court and NLRC guidelines provide that “Nonrenewal or cancellation of the Certificate of Authority by the Insurance Commissioner” shall be a ground for the cancellation of the Certificate of Accreditation and Authority of surety companies. In January 2019, following the order to liquidate Far Eastern Surety & Insurance Co., the Insurance Commission ordered the cancellation of all continuing bonds issued by the said company and directed the liquidator to notify the respective courts, obligees, and advise the obligors to secure replacement bonds. For bonds required by the NLRC, the NLRC in its En Banc Resolution 03-2013 (Guidelines for the Accreditation of Surety Companies) provided: “In accordance with Section 6, Rule VI of the 2011 NLRC Rules of Procedure, as amended, the surety bond shall be valid and effective from the date of deposit or posting, until the case is finally decided, resolved or terminated, or the award satisfied.” https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/04/03/continuing-bonds/