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In a move that could signal trouble for the municipal bond market, troubled bond insurer ACA Capital Holdings Inc. has agreed to cede some control of its bond insurance operations to Maryland Insurance Regulators.  In exchange, the regulators have given ACA a thirty-day waiver from posting additional capital, which it was required to do after Standard & Poors cut its credit rating on December 19, 2007. 

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Read More Bond Insurer’s Decision to Cede Control to Regulators Could Foreshadow Trouble For The Municipal Bond Market

Florida’s Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) has announced that it has settled its differences with Universal Health Care Insurance Company (UHCIC) through a consent order.  UHCIC had previously commenced numerous court actions to fend off receivership proceedings. 

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Read More Florida Regulators Reach Settlement with Universal Health Care Insurance Company

Under Massachusetts new managed competition process to set auto insurance rates, previously discussed here and here, the State’s 19 automobile insurance companies were invited to make initial rate filings and then to submit amended rate proposals after reviewing their competitors’ proposals. 

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Read More Massachusetts Automobile Insurance – A Status Report

By Order dated December 27, 2007 a New York appeals court rejected an absent class member’s bid to obtain the work product of lead counsel in the CA Inc. securities class action.  The absent class member, billionaire Sam Wyly, a major CA shareholder, alleged that the $134 million settlement of the CA securities class action obtained by lead counsel was inadequate. 

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Read More Absent Class Member Not Entitled to Privileged Work-Product of Lead Counsel

On December 19, 2007, Barclays, PLC, Britain’s third largest bank, filed a lawsuit against Bear Stearns in federal court over subprime losses from a failed Bear Stearns hedge fund.  As we reported earlier this year, two hedge funds managed by Bear Stearns went bankrupt this summer because their investments were highly concentrated in the sub-prime market. …
Read More Barclays Sues Bear Stearns Over Subprime Hedge Fund Losses

In Shenandoah Chiropractic, P.A. v. National Specialty Ins. Co., 2007 WL 4276531 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 3, 2007), the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida recently dismissed a class action complaint, seeking declaratory relief and alleging breach of contract in relation to a claim for Personal Injury Protection  (“PIP”) benefits. 

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Read More Federal District Court Dismisses PIP Class Action Suit

The Massachusetts Commissioner of Insurance Nonnie S. Burnes released a Division of Insurance Bulletin on December 20, 2007, which requires that any licensed insurer must, upon the payment of $5,000 or more in the settlement of a third-party liability claim that is delivered to the claimant’s attorney, provide a concurrent written notice to the claimant. 

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Read More Massachusetts Insurance Regulations Now Require Written Notice to Third-Party Liability Claimants of Settlement Payments Sent to Claimant’s Counsel

In Midwest Employers Cas. Co. v. Legion Ins. Co. (In Liquidation), No. 4:07CV870 CDP (E.D. Mo. Nov. 7, 2007), Midwest Employers Casualty Company (“MECC”) sought a declaration that the demand for arbitration from Legion Insurance Company under forty-three reinsurance contracts that did not contain arbitration clauses was null and void. …
Read More Missouri District Court Rules That Suit Against Insurer in Liquidation Can Proceed in Federal Court

A Massachusetts trial court recently ordered a defendant insurer to produce reinsurance agreements during discovery in a coverage dispute.  Neles-Jamesbury, Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Ins. Co., C.A. No. 02-0982A (October 11, 2007). …
Read More Massachusetts Court Orders Discovery of Reinsurance Agreements