October 10, 2012
Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP
225 West Wacker Drive, Suite 3000
Chicago, Illinois  60606

Edwards Wildman Speakers:  Chris Finney, Thomas F. Bush, Neil R. (“Nick”) Pearson, Theodore P. Augustinos, Brian J. Green, Brent R. Austin, Patrick J. Gennardo

The Firm’s Chicago office will be hosting a half-day insurance and reinsurance seminar on October 10, 2012. The program is worth 4 CLE credits and will run from 8:15 am to 2:00 pm, which includes lunch from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm.

Topics that will be covered:

Solvency II – Groups and Equivalence
Chris Finney

This presentation will be of interest to anyone working in, or advising, an international insurance or reinsurance group. It will also be of interest to reinsurers based outside the European Union with reinsureds based inside the Union. The presentation will explain:

  • Solvency II’s group capital rules; and
  • explore the equivalence and other issues that international groups will face if they include companies domiciled inside and outside the European Union, or if a company based inside the Union buys its reinsurance from a carrier outside the Union.

Consolidated Reinsurance Arbitrations
Thomas F. Bush

Reinsurance disputes frequently line up a single cedent against multiple reinsurers. Cedents frequently seek to join all reinsurers into a single, consolidated proceeding. This presentation will address how consolidation can be beneficial, by achieving efficiencies and consistent results, and how it can be problematic, primarily through difficulties in assembling a panel of arbitrators for a consolidated proceeding.

The Federal Insurance Office and the Federal Stability Oversight Council: Recent Developments Affecting Insurers
Nick Pearson

Dodd-Frank created the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) and the Federal Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). FIO, although without direct regulatory authority, will play an important role in the future regulation of the insurance industry. FSOC, with the authority to declare non-bank financial holding companies (which includes insurers) as systemically important, may impose new and significant regulatory and reporting requirements on insurers. Hear a discussion of these important federal initiatives.

Everyone’s Nightmare: Privacy and Data Breach Risks
Theodore P. Augustinos and Brian J. Green

Privacy and data breach risks affect companies in the insurance industry, both as entities potentially subject to those risks themselves, and as entities exposed to claims against and by insureds arising from data breaches. This panel will discuss privacy and data breach risks and the exposures they present, with a focus on breaches of personal information; the impact of recent litigation arising from data breaches; emerging privacy issues and cyber risks; and lines of insurance potentially impacted.

Recent Developments in Class Action Litigation Against Insurers Including: Consumer Fraud Challenges to Sales and Marketing Practices and Antitrust/McCarran Ferguson Act
Brent R. Austin and Patrick J. Gennardo

The panel will discuss the status of antitrust litigation against the insurance industry, and the status of the McCarran Act exemption, following the In re Insurance Brokerage Antitrust Litigation. The panel will also discuss the class action landscape a year after the U.S. Supreme Court Dukes decision, whose application is far broader than the context of employment discrimination. The issue of whether the Daubert standard applies at all at the class certification stage remains an open question, and issues of standing, reliance, causation and injury continue to be actively litigated in consumer fraud class cases.

To RSVP, e-mail: [email protected].

There is no charge for attendance at this seminar. Space is limited.