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The New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance recently issued Bulletin 09-21, which advises that amendments to N.J.S.A. § 17:22-6.59 and 17:22-6.64 were enacted on June 29, 2009.  The amendments change the surplus lines premium tax rate from three percent to five percent. 

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Read More New Jersey Increases Surplus Lines Premium Tax Rates

The Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division recently held that the term “physical damage,” as used in a policy covering damage due to the loss of electric power, was ambiguous in the context of the Northeast Blackout of 2003 involving a loss of power that was not caused by permanent “physical damage” to the electrical plant and equipment. 

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Read More New Jersey Appellate Court Reverses Summary Judgment Ruling in Favor of Insurer in Coverage Dispute Regarding Northeast Blackout of 2003

Investors of iShares Trust, (“iShares”), a investment management company, filed a federal class-action lawsuit against the company and certain of its directors and officers alleging, among other things, violations of Section 80a-13 of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the “ICA”) as a result of iShare’s investment of 11 percent of a corporate bond fund, approximately $400 million of the fund’s total net assets, in Lehman Brothers (“Lehman”) subordinated bonds on the eve of Lehman’s demise. 

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Read More Shareholders File Suit Following Company’s Decision to Invest Eleven Percent of Assets in Lehman Brothers – On Day Before Lehman’s Collapse

As previously discussed in this space, a new draft insurance law (see here, here, here and here) and nationalization of private property (see here) have caused significant concern among insurers and reinsurers about doing business in Venezuela.  These concerns, however, continue to be at least somewhat counterbalanced by impressive growth in the country’s insurance market. 

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Read More Despite Concerns About New Insurance Law and Expropriation Risk, Venezuelan Insurance Market Grows 38%

On June 26, 2009, Senate Bill 894, An Act Requiring Disclosure of Automobile Liability Insurance Policy Limits Prior to the Filing of a Claim (“SB 894”), was sent to the Connecticut Secretary of State for approval or veto by the Governor. 

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Read More Proposed Legislation in Connecticut Will Require Insurers to Disclose Automobile Liability Insurance Policy Limits Prior to a Claim Being Filed

On Monday, July 6, 2009, Acting New York State Insurance Department (“NYSID”) Superintendent Kermitt Brooks announced that the NYSID entered into an Exchange of Letters (“EoL”) with the Financial Services Agency of Japan (“FSA”), Japan’s insurance regulator. 

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Read More New York Insurance Department Announces Cooperation Agreement with Japan

Late last month, the New Jersey legislature passed A2238/S1651 (the “NJ Act”), which requires group health insurers to provide coverage for the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders.  Specifically, policies must provide coverage for treatments that are deemed medically necessary by the autistic person’s physician including behavioral therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and occupational therapy. 

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Read More New Jersey Passes Autism Coverage Legislation; Massachusetts Considering Same

On June 16, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Stanwood R. Duval Jr. granted a request by insurers to strike class allegations asserted in In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation (click here for a copy of the Order).  Judge Duval reasoned that the claims required individualized fact-specific inquiries which made them inappropriate for class certification. 

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Read More Katrina: Insurance Class Allegations Stricken in In re Katrina Canal Breaches Consolidated Litigation