On June 11, 2009, Ashland Inc., the maker of Valvoline Motor Oil, filed a complaint against Morgan Stanley in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, based upon Morgan Stanley’s alleged sale of Auction Rate Securities (“ARS”) to Ashland. …
Read More ARS Suit by Valvoline Maker Alleges Morgan Stanley Fraudulently Misrepresented Securities

In Ginther v. Farmers New Century Insurance Company, No. 04-3478 (3d Cir. Apr. 21, 2009), the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently upheld “the other household vehicle exclusion” contained in an automobile insurance policy. …
Read More Third Circuit Upholds Validity of Other Household Vehicle Exclusion

On June 24, 2009 Florida Governor Charlie Crist vetoed Florida HB 1171, a property insurance reform bill, sought by the insurance industry and business advocacy groups.  HB 1171 would have permitted insurers with adequate reserves to offer policies at whatever rate the market would bear while rate regulated companies continued to sell policies in Florida. …
Read More Florida Governor Charlie Crist Vetoes Property Insurance Reform Bill

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently conducted comparative testing on drywall manufactured in China and the United States.  As reported here, here, and here, Chinese drywall emits fumes that allegedly smell like rotten eggs, cause health problems and corrode metal in thousands of new homes built between 2002 and 2007.  Complaints have been registered nationwide but are concentrated in the Southeast, particularly in Florida. 

…
Read More Chinese Drywall – Environmental Protection Agency Releases Preliminary Test Results

Last month, a federal district court in Alabama ruled, as a matter of first impression that, under Alabama law, a litigant seeking to pursue an insurance bad faith claim against an insurer must have a direct contractual relationship with that insurer. 

…
Read More Alabama Federal Court: Third-Party Beneficiary to Insurance Policy May Not Pursue Bad Faith Claim

London’s marine insurance market announced recently that it has withdrawn maritime war-risk coverage for Venezuela (including Lake Maracaibo), as well as the nation’s “Exclusive Economic Zone,” which stretches up to 20 nautical miles off the South American country’s shores. …
Read More In Response to Expropriation, London Insurers Withdraw Maritime War-Risk Coverage as to Venezuela

June 30th is the deadline for filing a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”), Treasury Form TD F 90-22.1 for calendar year 2008. In general, an FBAR must be filed by any U.S. person who had either a financial interest in or signatory authority (or other authority) over one or more “financial accounts” in a foreign country if the aggregate value of all such accounts exceeded $10,000 at any time during the year. …
Read More Foreign Bank and Financial Account Reporting Requirements for June 30, 2009

Brazil’s insurance and reinsurance regulator, the Superintendencia de Seguros Privados (Susep), recently issued a report stating that that local reinsurance companies’ earned premium for the period January 2009 to April 2009 totaled R$ 1.3 billion (approximately US$ 661 million). 

…
Read More Brazil: Susep Announces Reinsurance Results for First Four Months of 2009