Photo of Zachary Lerner

Zach chairs the firm's Insurance Transactional + Regulatory Practice Group and advises clients on their insurance M&A deals and key compliance matters. His experience ranges from cross-border transactions and insurtech compliance to surplus lines regulatory matters.

The Florida Surplus Lines Office (“FSLO”) has reported that, effective June 1, Florida will withdraw from the Nonadmitted Insurance Multi-State Agreement (NIMA). Filings after June 1 will now be filed with the FSLO and not through the Surplus Lines Clearinghouse. Premium tax exposures will not be affected and rates where

Read More Florida to Withdraw from the Nonadmitted Insurance Multi-State Agreement

Celeste Koeleveld, former chief of the Criminal Division at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, has been appointed general counsel at the New York State Department of Financial Services (“Department”). Most recently, Ms. Koeleveld served as executive assistant corporation counsel at the New York City

Read More Celeste Koeleveld appointed general counsel at New York Department of Financial Services

As we have previously reported here, one of the requirements under the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2015 (“TRIPRA”) is that the Department of Treasury must report to Congress on the effectiveness of the legislation. In furtherance of this mandate, the Federal Insurance Office (“FIO”) issued a

Read More FIO issues voluntary TRIA data call; NAIC to proceed with mandatory separate request

Effective August 1, 2015, Louisiana became the 9th state in the United States to adopt legislation permitting the establishment of a domestic surplus lines insurer (“DSLI”). Louisiana now joins Illinois, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Delaware, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota and Missouri as the states that permit a DSLI to write

Read More Louisiana Adopts Domestic Surplus Lines Legislation – More States On The Way

In light of the reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (“TRIA”) earlier this year, a growing focus within the industry has been on the collection of data on terrorism risk exposure from insurers to help assess company solvency and market trends in light of particular changes to TRIA. As
Read More TRIA Data Call In Development for 2016

This month, the NAIC set forth a variety of proposals relating to changes risk-based capital (“RBC”) requirements, as well as treatment of investment affiliates.  In particular, the NAIC seeks to require life insurers to actively disclosure how the use of captives to manage their A-XXX risks would impact the insurer’s
Read More NAIC Proposes Changes to Life Insurer Disclosure Requirements and Treatment of Investment Affiliates

Since 2005, banks have continued to provide certain military service members with loans that require payment of interest far beyond the 16% New York state cap under what has become known as the “Fort Drum Loophole.” The loophole has specifically exempted banks from the New York usury laws for loans
Read More New York Limits Interest Rates on Loans to New York-based Military Personnel

The Federal Insurance Office has made it clear that it considers cyber insurance to play a crucial role in encouraging cyber security of companies as well as providing financial support for companies in the event of a cyber incident. Thus, for example, in comments at the quarterly meeting of the
Read More FIO and States Working to Enhance Flow of Information within Cyber Insurance Industry

On July 17, 2014, the Senate passed the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2014, extending the original Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (“TRIA”) for an additional seven years. If the bill is ultimately signed into law, it will mark a victory for Senator Schumer, who introduced the original version of the bill in April of this year, as well as many industry participants who have been advocating for an extension of TRIA in order to provide clarity and stability with respect to terrorism risks. 
Read More Senate Passes new TRIA Bill; Awaits Response from House