On June 27, 2011, the Obama Administration nominated Roy Woodall as a voting member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (“FSOC”).  If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, he would become the first voting member of FSOC with a background in insurance, meeting the Dodd-Frank requirement that a voting member with insurance experience be named to the panel. …
Read More Roy Woodall Nominated as Voting Member of FSOC

Last week, the New York State Assembly gave the final approval to a bill, S.B. 5811 and A.B. 8464, that would exempt large commercial insurance policies from certain rate and form approval requirements. …
Read More New York Exempts Large Commercial Insurance Products From Rate and Form Approval Requirements

In Beazley Underwriting Ltd and Anor v Travelers Companies Inc [2011] EWHC 1520 (Comm) it was held that an insured could not claim under its professional indemnity insurance to recover settlement monies paid to brokers under a deed of indemnity when it was not in fact liable. …
Read More UK: Insured Cannot Claim When Not Liable Itself

Federal Investigation

Federal lawmakers recently called on several agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Energy Information Administration (EIA) and the Government Accountability Office (GAO), to investigate whether the natural gas industry has provided an accurate picture to investors of the long-term profitability of their wells and the amount of gas these wells can produce. …
Read More Hydrofracking Under Fire: Federal and State Lawmakers Turn Up Heat on Natural Gas Industry and NY Attorney General Issues Subpoenas to Five Companies

Munich Reinsurance America was reinsured under a treaty in which National Casualty Corporation and Employers Insurance Company of Wausau, among others, participated as reinsurers.  The treaty contained an arbitration clause that provided as follows: …
Read More Federal Court Finds that Treaty’s Consolidation Language is for Arbitrators to Interpret

Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 12 PM – 1 PM (EDT)

This 60-minute webinar will be presented by EAPD Attorneys Geoffrey Etherington, Nick Pearson and Edward Eynon.
Read More Complimentary Webinar: Dodd-Frank and Its Impact on the Insurance Industry: FSOC, FIO and Beyond

The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently concluded that an insured could not claim property insurance benefits following a fire at its restaurant, because the insured had actual knowledge that its fire-suppression system was no longer functional, and because the insured had exclusive control over the system’s maintenance. …
Read More Massachusetts Court Rules for Carrier in Property Dispute, Orders Return of Advance

The Argentinean regulator has published a new resolution which further clarifies the new rules affecting foreign reinsurers effective September 1, 2011. In particular, it complements Resolution 35,615 which was published back in February of this year setting out a new legal framework for reinsurance (see our previous blogs here and here). …
Read More Argentina: Regulator Provides Further Clarification on New Reinsurance Regime

In the recent judgment, AES Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant LLP v Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant JSC [2011] EWCA Civ 647, the Court of Appeal held that an anti-suit injunction can be granted to restrain foreign proceedings brought in breach of an English arbitration agreement, even in the absence of an actual, proposed or intended arbitration. …
Read More UK: Arbitration Proceedings Not a Prerequisite for Anti-Suit Injunctions

A recent decision in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has left resounding implications for insurers with respect to benefit plans under ERISA.  In Cyr v. Reliance Standard Life Insurance Co., case number 07-56869, an en banc panel of the Court held that insurers can be sued directly under ERISA by plan participants even when not acting as the plan administrator. …
Read More Insurer Sued Directly Under ERISA