On 24 October 2007, Michael Bright, the former chief executive of Independent Insurance Company, was convicted by jury trial of two charges of conspiracy to defraud. Former deputy managing director, Philip Condon, was found guilty on one count of fraud but was cleared on another, while the ex-finance director, Dennis Lomas, was found guilty of two fraud offences. 


Read More A Former Independent Insurance Director is Ordered to Pay £1.28 Million or Face Further Imprisonment

Despite its settlement with regulators, two new Auction Rate Securities (“ARS”) suits have recently been filed against Merrill Lynch.  Unlike the suit against UBS filed last November by investors alleging the regulatory settlements would not provide them with suitable relief  (see here), these suits are brought by investors who do not qualify for payments from the regulatory settlements. 


Read More Merrill Lynch Auction Rate Securities Suits Continue Despite Regulatory Settlements

Following on from its statements of 30 September 2008 and 20 January 2009 (see our previous blog on this statement here) suggesting firms may wish to stop selling single premium PPI, the FSA has sent a letter to CEO’s requesting that if they have not already done so, to stop selling single PPI with unsecured personal loans as soon as possible and in any event no later than 29 May 2009.


Read More UK: Regulation – Financial Services Authority Letter to CEOs Re Single Premium Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) with Unsecured Personal Loans

By a 6-3 vote, the United States Supreme Court yesterday found that state law claims for failure to include an adequate warning on a pharmaceutical label are not preempted by the federal Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) prior approval of the product’s label. 


Read More Wyeth v. Levine: U.S. Supreme Court Rejects FDA Labeling Preemption Argument, Likely Increasing Defense Costs for Many Pharmaceutical Product Liability Claims

In a recent decision of the United Stated District Court for the Southern District of New York, Global Int’l Reinsurance Co. v. TIG Ins. Co., 08 Civ. 7338 (JSR) (S.D.N.Y. Jan 20, 2009), the court granted a cedent’s petition to confirm an arbitration award and denied a reinsurer’s motion to vacate the award in part. 


Read More U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Confirms Arbitration Award