Machua Millett of EAPD recently participated in the 32nd Hemispheric Insurance Conference hosted by the Federacion Interamericana de Empresas de Seguros (FIDES).  Kicked off by a fiery performance by five-time Grammy Award winner Olga Tañon, FIDES 2009 brought together nearly 900 insurance industry representatives from Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia to discuss the status and future of the Latin American (re)insurance markets. …
Read More FIDES 2009: Latin American Insurance Conference Addresses Developing Opportunities, CAT Risk, Insurance Penetration, Climate Change and Solvency II

IRB-Brasil Re, the government-controlled former monopoly holder in Brazil’s reinsurance market, has maintained a 78.5% share of the market’s local reinsurance premiums since the market’s opening, but perhaps at a significant cost to its bottom line. 

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Read More Brazil: IRB Maintains Local Reinsurance Market Share of 78.5%, But Earnings Down 58.5% for First Eight Months of 2009

On October 27, 2009, the House Financial Services Committee and the Treasury Department released draft legislation, titled the Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009 (the “Bill”), to address systemic risk issues, particularly in connection with financial institutions that are considered “too big to fail.” 

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Read More House Financial Services Committee and Treasury Department Release Draft Financial Stability Improvement Act of 2009

In a judgment handed down last week, the Court of Appeal upheld the decision of Mr Justice Blackburne (previously reported here) that the English courts have no jurisdiction to sanction the proposed scheme of arrangement for Lehman Brothers International Europe (LBIE) insofar as it purports to extinguish rights of beneficiaries under trusts. 

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Read More UK: Court of Appeal Confirms that English Courts have no Jurisdiction to Sanction Lehman Brothers Scheme

Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe Limited (LMIE) was recently granted authorization by Ecuadorian insurance regulator la Superintendencia de Bancos y Seguros (SBS) to do business in the country as a foreign reinsurer.  LMIE was advised through the application process by EAPD attorneys Jack Dearie and Machua Millett, together with local counsel. 

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Read More Ecuador: Liberty Mutual Insurance Europe Limited Obtains Foreign Reinsurer Authorization

In a meeting this week with Democrats from the Florida House of Representatives, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty stated that, in his opinion, damages associated with allegedly toxic Chinese drywall are not covered damages under homeowner’s insurance policies. …
Read More Chinese Drywall – Florida Insurance Commissioner States that Chinese Drywall Damage Not Covered By Homeowner’s Policies

In Wickham Van Eyck (a firm) v Norwich Union Insurance Limited [2009] EWCH 2625 (Comm), the High Court held that the defendant insurer was bound to indemnify the claimant firm of architects under the terms of an insurance policy in respect of a dispute between the claimant and another firm of architects. 

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Read More UK: Court Refuses to Imply Concept of Dominant Purpose into Insurance Policy Wording

Insurers of solicitors’ firms that have been intervened by the Law Society are not entitled to search through all the Law Society’s documents for evidence that would enable them to refuse an indemnity, the High Court has ruled. …
Read More UK: High Court Refuses to Give Insurer Access to a Firm’s Intervention Documents Held by the Law Society

H.R. 2609, the Insurance Information Act of 2009, was reintroduced into the U.S. House of Representatives on May 21, 2009 by Representative Paul Kanjorski (D-PA).  The act would establish the Office of Insurance Information (the “OII”).  A revised discussion draft of H.R. 2609, released on October 1, 2009, was the subject of a recent Congressional hearing and debated in the House Financial Services Committee on October 27, 2009. …
Read More Representative Kanjorski Attempts to Form an Insurance Information Office with Regulatory Powers

On Tuesday, October 29, 2009, New York State Insurance Department (“NYSID”) Superintendent James Wrynn announced that the NYSID entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with the Superintendencia del Sistema Financiero de El Salvador (“SSF”), El Salvador’s insurance regulator. 

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Read More New York State Insurance Department Announces Cooperation Agreement with El Salvador