The Massachusetts Appeals Court recently ruled that the state’s statute governing insurance companies’ claims settlement practices applies to captive insurers.  See Lemos v. Electrolux North America, Inc., et al., No. 09-P-943 (Mass. App. Dec. 2, 2010). …
Read More Massachusetts Appeals Court Holds That Bad Faith Statute Applies To Captive Insurers

We have previously reported here on the Equitable Life (Payments) Bill, which has been subject to scrutiny in the UK Parliament. The Bill is intended to give the Treasury statutory authority to make payments to eligible former and current Equitable Life Assurance Society (Equitable Life) policyholders who have been adversely affected by the maladministration of Government regulatory bodies in the regulation of Equitable Life prior to December 2001. …
Read More UK: Equitable Life (Payments) Bill – Update

The High Court has given another lengthy ruling on issues arising in the administration of Lehman Brothers International (Europe) (LBIE). This ruling addressed general principles on the issue of title to securities (equities and fixed income securities) held by LBIE for affiliates in unsegregated house depot accounts at the point of collapse. …
Read More UK: Lehman Ruling on Title to Securities Acquired for Affiliates

In the case of Noble Denton Middle East and Another v Noble Denton International Limited [2010] EWHC 2574, Mr Justice Burton was asked to decide two points. First, whether an arbitrator should be appointed by virtue of an application made under s. 18 of the Arbitration Act 1996; and, second, whether those arbitration proceedings should be stayed in favour of Texas proceedings. …
Read More UK: High Court Refuses Stay in Favour of Arguable Arbitration Clause

This updates our June 1, 2010 posting.  The Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”) has officially banned the use of discretionary clauses in insurance contracts with an order issued on December 3, 2010 (the “Order”).  The ban is the result of a petition filed by the Texas Office of Public Insurance Counsel (OPIC) on October 28, 2009 requesting the ban.  Subsequent to the petition, the TDI held a public hearing on July 12, 2010. …
Read More UPDATE: Texas Bans Use Of Discretionary Clauses In Insurance Contracts

This updates our November 1, 2010 posting.  On December 6, 2010, the New Jersey Senate Commerce Committee passed S.168 (the “Bill”) by a vote of 4-0, which would permit a captive insurance market to exist in New Jersey.  The Bill is based on Vermont’s captive insurance bill, which is viewed as the state model with the best design for the captive insurance market so far. …
Read More New Jersey Senate Makes Progress On Captive Insurance Bill

Lawmakers returned to Washington last week to continue the lame-duck session of the 111th Congress, clearing a short-term solution to the pending Medicare cuts for physicians. Meanwhile, the President’s bipartisan fiscal commission finalized and released a report aimed at greatly reducing the federal deficit, though the details of the plan proved to be unpopular among those affected by the corresponding spending cuts. …
Read More Healthcare Update: Healthcare News From Capitol Hill and The Department of Health and Human Services – December 6, 2010

Join the U.S. Reinsurance Under 40s Group on December 9 in New York for the Group’s next social event.  The event will take place from 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm at Galway Hooker, located at 7 East 36th Street (@ 5th Avenue) in New York. …
Read More U.S. Under 40s Next Event — Social Event on December 9

Following a meeting of the Council of the European Union on 17 November 2010, plans to reform the VAT exemption for insurance and the wider financial services industry are set to continue, with Member States agreeing to find a resolution to the current problems. …
Read More UK: EU Plans for VAT Exemption Reforms are Set to Continue

On 26 November 2010, the European Commission opened a consultation period on the review of the Insurance Mediation Directive (IMD) in order to allow stakeholders to provide comments and opinion on the current IMD provisions and the possible policy changes that could be made in the future. The European Commission invites stakeholders to answer the questions put forward in the consultation document, which are aimed at receiving insight on the current provisions and possible policy changes. …
Read More EU: Consultation on the Review of the Insurance Mediation Directive