Benjamin Lawsky, Superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services (the “Department”), sent a letter [PDF] to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) last week criticizing the NAIC’s plan to move forward with implementing the principles based reserving approach (“PBR Approach”) for life insurers.
Read More New York Drops Principles Based Reserving Approach for Life Insurers

On Wednesday U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein dismissed on summary judgment a lawsuit by several companies associated with World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein (the “WTC Developers”) which sought to recover funds from a $1.2 billion settlement between their insurers and several airlines and airport security companies (the “Aviation Defendants”).
Read More World Trade Center Developers Were Fully Compensated by $4.091 Billion in Insurance Proceeds, and Thus Cannot Recover Additional Funds from Insurers

The New York Department of Financial Services (the “NY DFS”) has released proposed amendments to Insurance Regulation 41 (11 NYCRR Part 27), which governs the standards for excess lines placements.
Read More New York Proposes Changes to Excess line Placements Governing Standards (Regulation 41)

As of January 1, 2015 insurers and insurance groups will be required to assess the adequacy of their risk management systems and to periodically conduct an Own Risk and Solvency Assessment (ORSA) consistent with the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s (NAIC) ORSA Guidance Manual. …
Read More California Enacts AB 584 Requiring Insurance Companies to File an ORSA Summary

PROPOSED RULE ON EMPLOYER INFORMATION REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

On September 5, 2013, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service jointly issued proposed regulations implementing the Affordable Care Act’s information reporting requirements for insurers and certain employers. …
Read More Healthcare Update: Proposed Rule on Employer Information Reporting Requirements; Potential Fix for the “Doc Fix”

Continuing the controversy first discussed in our earlier article (a copy of which can be accessed here), uncertainty remains over whether the self-procurement tax and regulatory provisions of the Non-admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act, enacted as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010, apply to non-admitted insurance procured from a captive insurance company. …
Read More Does NRRA Capture Captives?

New York’s highest court has agreed to rehear its June decision that held that a liability insurer found to have “breached its duty to defend…may not later rely on policy exclusions to escape its duty to indemnify the insured for a judgment against him.” …
Read More New York Highest Court to Reconsider Decision that Breach of Duty to Defend Precludes Later Reliance on Policy Exclusions

This program will offer an overview of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). It will examine recent cases involving allegations that an insurer or its affiliate violated a fiduciary duty owed to an ERISA plan it serviced, with an emphasis on cases concerning “revenue sharing” with a mutual fund that the plan offers its participants. It is designed for in-house counsel, human resource managers and benefit specialists who focus on employee benefit matters.
Read More Please Join Us – ERISA Overview – Complimentary Seminar – October 2, 2013

In recent years, the use of captives to help life insurers finance perceived excess XXX and AXXX reserves has accelerated. The NAIC continues to monitor the emerging practice and has drawn considerable attention to the matter through its solicitation of opinions by various players in the industry as well as through the publication of white paper on the matter and actions by the Principle-Based Reserving Implementation (EX) Task Force at the NAIC’s Summer National Meeting. …
Read More FIO Showing Increased Willingness to Intervene on Use of Captives to Finance Perceived Excess Reserves

On August 24th, the Principle-Based Reserving Implementation (EX) Task Force (the “Task Force”) of the NAIC met at the NAIC Summer National Meeting. During the meeting, the Task Force set forth additional charges with respect to the use of captives by life insurers and determined that the NAIC needs to “further assess the solvency implications of life insurer-owned captive insurers and other alternative mechanisms in the context of [Principle-Based Reserving].”…
Read More NAIC Increases Focus on Use of Captives by Life Insurers