New York’s Department of Financial Services (DFS) has issued subpoenas to 22 of the largest investors and major companies involved in the digital cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency (in essence just a file of code) which is generated and whose movements are authenticated using cryptography. …
Read More Key Bitcoin Players Subpoenaed by NY Regulator

Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Ltd (GTB) has been fined £525,000 (discounted by 30% for settlement at an early stage of the investigation) by the FCA for failures in its anti-money laundering controls. The Final Notice, which can be found here, stated that, between 19 May 2008 and 19 July 2010, GTB had breached FCA Principle 3 by failing to have in place effective anti-money laundering systems and controls for high risk customers. …
Read More UK: FCA Fines Guaranty Trust Bank (UK) Ltd for Anti-Money Laundering Failures

The FCA issued decision notices last week for three individuals in connection with market abuse by Rameshkumar Goenka (which earned Goenka a fine of over $6.5 million and restitution of $3.1 million in 2011). The individuals concerned were David Davis, a senior partner and the compliance officer of Paul E Schweder Miller & Co, Vandana Parikh, a broker at the same firm, and Tariq Carimjee of Somerset Asset Management. …
Read More UK: FCA Fines Broker, Compliance Officer and Asset Manager in Relation to Market Abuse

Weather patterns in Oklahoma have taken their toll on the local insurance industry. Due to an unexpectedly large number of powerful tornadoes in May, including the devastating tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma, insurance companies have thus far seen claims for tornado damages in excess of $1 billion in Oklahoma.
Read More Large Storms in Oklahoma Rattling Local Insurance Industry

The Connecticut Supreme Court, in a much anticipated subrogation decision, recently held that an insurer has priority over a policyholder in the context of a recovery for insurance policy deductible losses. See Fireman’s Fund Ins. Co. v. TD Banknorth Ins. Agency, Inc., 309 Conn. 449, — A.3d —-, 2013 WL 3818112 (Conn. July 30, 2013). …
Read More Connecticut Supreme Court Determines that the Make Whole Doctrine Does Not Apply to Insurance Policy Deductibles

PROPOSED BILL WOULD ELIMINATE STARK LAW EXCEPTION FOR SOME SERVICES

The “Promoting Integrity in Medicare Act of 2013,” introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on August 1, would eliminate one of the Stark Law’s exceptions for advanced imaging, anatomic pathology, radiation therapy and physical therapy services performed in a physician’s office. …
Read More Healthcare Update: Proposed Bill Would Eliminate Stark Law Exception for Some Services; Oregon Exchange Won’t be Completely Ready by Deadline; “Doc Fix” Bill Advances in House

In Bituminous Casualty Corp. v. Iles, the Appellate Court of Illinois reversed the trial court’s judgment against the insurance company. An oil well exploded, leading to many lawsuits against Bituminous’s policyholders. …
Read More The Illinois Appellate Court Rules that CGL Policies’ General Aggregate Limit Should Not Be Mistaken for an Each Occurrence Limit

In Lexington Insurance Co. v. Integrity Land Title Co., the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals enforced two exclusions, rejecting arguments in favor of coverage as unreasonable and too narrow. Notably, the court rejected these arguments to the detriment of an intervenor claiming benefits under a policy issued to another party, even though the basis of enforcing these exclusions was the policyholder’s knowledge and failure, not the intervenor’s. …
Read More The Eighth Circuit Rejects Pro-Coverage Arguments as Unreasonable and Too Narrow and Applies the Prior-Knowledge and Lien-Waiver Exclusions

Below are recent activities on the FIO/FSOC front.

  • In its quarterly report to Congress issued on July 24, 2013, the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) details its support for the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s (FSOC’s) designation of AIG as a systemically important financial institution. 

…
Read More FIO/FSOC Update as of August 6, 2013

According to media reports, during its July 26 conference call, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) Executive (EX) Committee/Plenary approved the proposal for the Corporate Governance (E) Working Group to develop a new model law to facilitate the annual collection of information regarding insurers’ corporate governance practices. …
Read More NAIC Executive Committee Grants Approval for Development of Corporate Governance Model Law