The New York Insurance Department (“NYID”) prepared a draft circular letter (“Draft Circular Letter” or “Letter”) in early June, which, if finalized and issued, will require insurers to advise consumers of the implications of excess withdrawals from annuities with guaranteed minimum withdrawal benefits (“GMWB”). …
Read More New York Contemplates Disclosure for Excess Annuity Withdrawals

In advance of a June 18 deadline for comments, top hospital groups expressed strong opposition to proposed payment cuts issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).  The following week, President Obama announced a set of regulations that will implement various provisions of the recently-enacted healthcare reform law (Public Law 111-148) relating to pre-existing conditions, lifetime coverage limits and other patient protections. …
Read More Healthcare News from Capitol Hill and the Department of Health and Human Services – June 28, 2010

Late last week, the House and Senate drafters of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (H.R. 4173) came to final compromise on the language creating the first ever office in the federal government that is focused on the insurance industry called the Federal Insurance Office (the “FIO”), housed in the United States Department of the Treasury. …
Read More Language on Authority of New Federal Insurance Office Agreed to by Drafters of the House and Senate Financial Reform Bill

Representatives of the United States House of Representatives and Senate attending the reconciliation conference on H.R. 4173, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, have come to an agreement on the streamlined regulation of multistate surplus lines insurance policies. …
Read More Surplus Lines Reform Approved by House/Senate Conferees

In the early morning hours of June 25, House and Senate conferees completed action on financial regulatory reform legislation (H.R. 4173) by approving a final conference report by a vote of 20-11 among House conferees and a vote of 7-5 among Senate conferees. …
Read More Financial Reform Conferees Complete Work on Overhaul Legislation

Yesterday, the Second Circuit affirmed a district court’s decision in which the court held that an arbitrator who had previously resigned was able to rejoin the arbitration panel. …
Read More Second Circuit Affirms District Court’s Decision to Reappoint Arbitrator Who Had Resigned

The People’s Bank of China (the POBC) announced on 19 June 2010 that the renminbi (RMB) was to exit the peg to the US dollar. China will now determine its exchange rate with reference to a basket of other currencies. …
Read More China: The People’s Bank of China Announce the Renminbi will no Longer be Pegged to the US Dollar

On 26 May 2010, the China Insurance Regulatory Commission (the CIRC) announced that it is considering liberalising current restrictions on investments by People’s Republic of China insurance companies in stocks and bonds. …
Read More China: China Regulator Expands Limits on Bond Investment by Insurers

On 22 July 2010 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, presented his emergency Budget. The Budget set out measures to close the UK deficit by 2015-16, several of which will impact directly on the insurance industry. …
Read More UK: Emergency Budget Heralds Insurance Premium Tax Rise

Two recent cases, one from the U.S. Supreme Court and one from the Supreme Court of New Jersey, suggest that companies need to periodically, if not immediately, update their computer and e-mail policies in order to minimize or prevent litigation when employees use the company’s systems for personal messages. …
Read More Recent Court Rulings on Employer Review of Employees’ Electronic Messages – Adjustment to Employer Policies Needed