Without question, the last year has been a tough one for securities fraud plaintiffs.
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United States
Risk Management? Red Sox Will Have To Sweep The World Series This Year For Fans To Get Free Furniture
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Last fall, we posted about a New England furniture company that, backed by prize indemnification insurance, offered customers the chance to get their furniture purchase for free if the Boston Red Sox won the World Series. Click here. We later posted about the approximately 30,000 fans that won reimbursement of their furniture purchase when the Red Sox defeated the Colorado Rockies in the World Series. Click here.
Maryland Attorney General Obtains Clearer Disclosure for Cellular Phone Protection Plans
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Posted in Industry Developments, United States
On April 4, 2008, Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler announced that his office reached an agreement regarding certain consumer protections with four of the nation’s largest wireless telephone carriers, as well as a provider of cellular phone insurance protection policies. Under the agreement, key terms in the cellular phone protection plans will be more clearly disclosed to consumers.
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Massachusetts State Pension Fund Will Not (and Cannot) Form Bond Insurer
Michael Travaglini, who oversees the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board, recently voiced his disagreement with California Treasurer Bill Lockyer’s plan to form a state-owned bond insurer, saying that pension funds should not be in the business of insuring securities. “I am very glad that in Massachusetts we are prohibited by our enabling statutes [from creating a bond insurer],” Travaglini said. He continued, “I’m in the investment business, not the lending business in any way, shape or form.
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Dinallo: NY is Working “Avidly” to Solve the Crisis at FGIC
New York Superintendent of Insurance, Eric Dinallo, recently revealed that the New York State Insurance Department is working “avidly” to alleviate the capital crisis at bond insurer FGIC. FGIC was the subject of ratings downgrades by both Fitch Ratings and S&P earlier this year. …
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Fitch Downgrades MBIA to AA
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
Last week, Fitch Ratings downgraded MBIA Insurance Corp. and its subsidiaries from AAA to AA, stating that the bond insurer’s pro-forma claims paying resources at year-end 2007 now fall below Fitch’s AAA capital targets by $3.4 to $3.8bn. Instead, Fitch concluded that MBIA’s pro-forma claims paying resources fall squarely within its standards for AA capital.
Kentucky Federal Court: Bad Faith Discovery Not Limited To Pre-Litigation Conduct
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
The Federal District Court for the Western District of Kentucky recently denied a defendant insurer’s request to limit discovery in a bad-faith case to its pre-litigation conduct and to not include conduct post-commencement of litigation.
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New Jersey Supreme Court Rules That Jury May Not Consider General Deterrence When Setting Amounts of Punitive Damages Awards
The Supreme Court of New Jersey recently held that the New Jersey Punitive Damages Act allows punitive damages to be entered for the purposes of punishing and deterring only a specific wrongdoer, not for general deterrence.
Insurance Insolvencies in the United States Reach a 10-Year Low
A recent report by Standard & Poor’s (“S&P”) noted that the number of U.S. insurers placed under regulatory supervision in 2007 was the lowest in a decade. The report attributes a decrease in insolvencies among property casualty insurers to, among other things, a mild hurricane season combined with better underwriting and an improved premium rate environment. …
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Resolution Issued by Ukrainian Court Rejects Enforcement of Arbitration Awards Under New York Convention
By Troutman Pepper Locke on
A member of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council recently predicted that a resolution issued by the Ukrainian High Commercial Court may lead to that country’s secession from the U.N. Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (the “Convention”).