After a prolonged floor debate that kept Senators in session through weekends for 25 consecutive days, the Senate completed its work on healthcare reform legislation in the early morning hours on Christmas Eve.  The vote on final passage of the Senate’s bill – H.R. 3590 – came at 7:00 a.m., when it passed by a tally of 60-39. 

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Read More Last Week in DC: The Healthcare Reform Debate – December 29, 2009

Susep’s superintendent, Armando Vergilio dos Santos, recently stated that he expects the country’s proposed microinsurance law to be approved before April 2010. 

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Read More Brazil: Susep Predicts That Microinsurance Law Will Pass Before April; Study Suggests That Country Could See 33 Million New Microinsurance Customers

Susep recently reported that gross written premiums for November 2009 were up 30.4% over November 2008, totaling US$ 6.85 billion for the month. …
Read More Brazil: Gross Written Premiums up 30.4% in November; Regulator Anticipates 16-20% Growth in Insurance Market in 2010

On December 22, 2009, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced the settlement of apparent violations by Lloyds TSB Bank of OFAC regulations relating to Iran, Sudan and Libya. 

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Read More Lloyds TSB Bank Settles with OFAC

A federal judge in Pennsylvania recently examined whether an insurer must defend a crematorium and funeral home against several lawsuits alleging that they participated in an organ harvesting scheme. …
Read More Court Examines Duty to Defend Funeral Homes Accused of Participation in Organ Harvesting

On December 15, 2009, New York’s Appellate Division for the First Department held that an insured need not allege or prove that its insurer acted in bad faith in order to recover consequential damages stemming from the insurer’s breach of the policy. …
Read More NY Court: Insured May Recover Consequential Damages Absent Insurer Bad Faith

Most public companies will need to provide new disclosures about corporate governance, director qualifications and compensation matters in proxy statements for their 2010 annual meetings. …
Read More Client Advisory – SEC Requires Additional Corporate Governance and Compensation Disclosure for 2010 Annual Meetings

Privacy and data breaches are part of every company’s nightmare of what can go wrong. There is no company in any industry that is not exposed to risks and liabilities related to unauthorized access to personal information of individuals. The risk of data breaches, and the regulations governing company obligations to secure data, and to provide notification in the event of a breach, are increasing dramatically. …
Read More EAPD WEBINAR LINK: Privacy and Data Breaches

Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, and Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Washington, proposed on December 16, 2009 rebuilding the barriers separating commercial banks, investment banks and insurers established under the Depression Era Glass-Steagall Act.  In 1999, the requirements that the three industries remain separate were eliminated by the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act. …
Read More Unscrambling the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Omelet

On November 30, 2009, the United States Supreme Court granted certiorari to hear the appeal of a Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision affirming the dismissal of an “F-Cubed” securities class action — i.e., a securities class action brought by foreign investors who purchased shares in a foreign company on a foreign stock exchange — on subject matter jurisdiction grounds. 

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Read More The U.S. Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in F-Cubed Case