The House passed its $1 trillion healthcare reform bill over the weekend, following a week-long flurry of behind the scenes activity by Democratic leaders, as they worked to line up the 218 votes necessary for passage.  Across the Capitol, the Senate remained in a holding pattern, and many Senators have begun to acknowledge that a vote on healthcare reform may not occur in their chamber before the end of the year. 


Read More Last Week in DC: The Healthcare Reform Debate – November 9, 2009

On October 27, 2009, the House Financial Services Committee and the Treasury Department released draft legislation, titled the Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009 (the “Bill”), to address systemic risk issues, particularly in connection with financial institutions that are considered “too big to fail.” 


Read More House Financial Services Committee and Treasury Department Release Draft Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009

In a judgment handed down last week, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of Mr Justice Blackburne (previously reported here) that the English courts have no jurisdiction to sanction the proposed scheme of arrangement for Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE) insofar as it purports to extinguish rights of beneficiaries under trusts. 


Read More UK: Court of Appeal Confirms that English Courts have no Jurisdiction to Sanction Lehman Brothers Scheme

In a meeting this week with Democrats from the Florida House of Representatives, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty stated that, in his opinion, damages associated with allegedly toxic Chinese drywall are not covered damages under homeowner’s insurance policies. 
Read More Chinese Drywall – Florida Insurance Commissioner States that Chinese Drywall Damage Not Covered By Homeowner’s Policies

In Wickham Van Eyck (a firm) v Norwich Union Insurance Limited [2009] EWCH 2625 (Comm), the High Court held that the defendant insurer was bound to indemnify the claimant firm of architects under the terms of an insurance policy in respect of a dispute between the claimant and another firm of architects. 


Read More UK: Court Refuses to Imply Concept of Dominant Purpose into Insurance Policy Wording

Insurers of solicitors’ firms that have been intervened by the Law Society are not entitled to search through all the Law Society’s documents for evidence that would enable them to refuse an indemnity, the High Court has ruled. 
Read More UK: High Court Refuses to Give Insurer Access to a Firm’s Intervention Documents Held by the Law Society

H.R. 2609, the Insurance Information Act of 2009, was reintroduced into the U.S. House of Representatives on May 21, 2009 by Representative Paul Kanjorski (D-PA).  The act would establish the Office of Insurance Information (the “OII”).  A revised discussion draft of H.R. 2609, released on October 1, 2009, was the subject of a recent Congressional hearing and debated in the House Financial Services Committee on October 27, 2009. 
Read More Representative Kanjorski Attempts to Form an Insurance Information Office with Regulatory Powers

On Tuesday, October 29, 2009, New York State Insurance Department (“NYSID”) Superintendent James Wrynn announced that the NYSID entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with the Superintendencia del Sistema Financiero de El Salvador (“SSF”), El Salvador’s insurance regulator. 


Read More New York State Insurance Department Announces Cooperation Agreement with El Salvador

In a recent decision of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, TIG Ins. Co. v. Global Int’l Reins. Co., Ltd., No. 09 Civ. 1289 (Aug. 7, 2009), the court ruled that an arbitrator’s decision to ignore certain evidence is not a proper ground for vacating an arbitration award. 
Read More Southern District of New York Confirms Arbitration Award Dismissing Fraud Claims on Summary Judgment