BROWN STEPS DOWN AS LOUISIANA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER

Suspended Louisiana insurance commissioner Jim Brown has resigned from his post following the US Supreme Court’s second refusal to review his earlier conviction for lying to a federal agent. Mr Brown was acquitted in 2000 on 43 fraud and conspiracy counts in connection with the liquidation of Cascade Insurance, but was given a six-month prison term for lying to an investigator. He was suspended without pay, but was not required to give up his post until his court appeals ended. Mr Brown, the third consecutive Louisiana insurance commissioner to be sent to federal prison, is scheduled for release on April 13.