President Bush and Congress came to terms this weekend on the $700 billion bailout bill designed to aid the struggling U.S. economy.  It is expected that the House of Representatives will vote on the “Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008” (the “Act”) today, with the Senate to follow


Read More BREAKING NEWS: Bailout Bill Terms Finalized, Congress Expected to Vote Today

Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge’s Insurance and Reinsurance Department will host a webinar on the above topic on Monday, September 29, 2008 at 12:00 PM EDT / 5:00 PM BST
Read More Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge Webinar: ‘Mortgage-Backed and Auction-Rate Securities: Structure, Litigation and Insurance Issues’

On September 16, 2008, the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) announced that, in its capacity as the Financial Services Commission, the Florida Cabinet approved a rule permitting approved, unaccredited reinsurance companies to conduct business in Florida without posting 100% collateral. 


Read More Florida Relaxes Collateral Rules for Unaccredited Reinsurers

“Given the turbulence affecting the financial services industry these days—including recent announcements concerning Lehman Brothers—you may be wondering what would happen to your securities account if your brokerage firm closed its doors.” 


Read More FINRA Publishes Release Entitled “If a Brokerage Firm Closes Its Doors”

The Acquisitions Directive
HM Treasury and the FSA have published a joint CP entitled “Implementation of the Acquisitions Directive: a consultation document “.


Read More UK: HM Treasury and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) publish a consultation paper (CP) on the Acquisitions Directive

On September 23, 2008, at the NAIC Fall meeting in National Harbor, Maryland, the Life Insurance and Annuities (A) Committee (the “Committee”) covered a number of issues with respect to viatical settlements.  Specifically, the Committee discussed whether it should revise the NAIC Viatical Settlement Model Act to incorporate provisions from the NCOIL Model Act to address, among other things, the issue of stranger initiated life insurance trusts. 
Read More NAIC Life Insurance and Annuities Committee Discussed Viatical Settlements

In Insurance Institute of Michigan, et al. v. Commissioner, No. 262385, 2008 WL 190394 (Mich. Ct. App., Aug. 21, 2008), the appellate court opinion of Presiding Judge Helen N. White vacated a lower court’s permanent injunction against regulations prohibiting the use of credit scores in home and auto insurance. 
Read More Michigan Court of Appeals Reinstates Regulations Prohibiting the Use of Credit Scoring in Home and Auto Insurance

The annual conference of the American Bankers Insurance Association was held on September 22-24 in Phoenix, and attended by EAPD attorneys Ted Augustinos, Chuck Welsh and Brian Green. Ted gave a presentation with Joan Cleveland of Prudential entitled “Using Customer Information to Drive Revenues,” and Brian co-chaired a panel discussion with Tim Tobin of Bank of America on reinsurance and risk management issues. 
Read More Report from the American Bankers Insurance Association Annual Conference