A group of European insurers and reinsurers, including Allianz, AXA, Munich Re, Swiss Re and Zurich, have established PERILS AG, based in Zurich, to collect and provide industry-wide European catastrophe insurance data. PERILS is intended to provide a service similar to that provided by Property Claims Services (PCS) in relation to US catastrophes. …
Read More PERILS AG: European Catastrophe Data Company Established

Dornoch v Westminster International [2009] EWHC 201 (Admlty) relates the right of marine insurers under the Marine Insurance Act 1906 to take over a vessel after it has become a constructive total loss as the result of a collision. …
Read More UK: Dornoch v Westminster International – Court Declines to Join Primary Layer Insurers to Action by Excess Insurers

An insurer involved in a dispute or proceeding outside China but in which a Chinese witness may need to give a deposition or statement cannot obtain that deposition or statement in China. China does not permit the taking of depositions or witness statements (even from willing witnesses) in China for a case pending overseas. However, such depositions and witness statements may be taken in Hong Kong. …
Read More Insurance Disputes Involving Chinese Witnesses: Taking Depositions from Chinese Witnesses in Hong Kong

On November 19, 2008, as part of the 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule regulations, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”), published final rules regarding payment limitations on diagnostic testing and the application of the “anti-markup” rules for diagnostic imaging services (the “2009 Rules”). …
Read More Revisions to Anti-Markup Rule for Purchased Diagnostic Tests: What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

New York’s First Department recently issued a decision refusing to revive a stock-option backdating shareholder derivative lawsuit against Bed Bath & Beyond (“BB&B”) based upon the immediate remedial action taken by the directors of the home décor company. …
Read More New York Court Issues Decision Insulating Bed Bath & Beyond from Backdating Stock Blame

The Third Circuit Federal Court of Appeals recently reversed a lower court dismissal of a shareholder class action, finding that the plaintiffs’ suit was not barred by the statute of limitations in the absence of “storm warnings of possible fraud.” …
Read More Third Circuit Addresses Inquiry Notice Standard: Requires “Storm Warnings of Possible Fraud”

On February 17, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (the “ARRA”), which is intended to stimulate economic growth with a mixture of increased federal spending and tax reductions. …
Read More American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Bond Provisions

Without making specific findings of fact, a FINRA arbitration panel ordered that broker-dealer Credit Suisse (USA) LLC must payclaimant STMicroelectronics more than $400 million in compensatory damages and $6.5 million in fees and costs to resolve a claim by the semiconductor maker that it violated Section 10(b) of the 1934 Securities Exchange Act and SEC Rule 10b-5. 

…
Read More Credit Suisse Ordered to Pay $400 million in Auction Rate Securities Case

Bedfordshire Police Authority (BPA) v Constable (sued on his own behalf and on behalf of all other members of Syndicate 386 at Lloyd’s) (the Syndicate) [2009] EWCA Civ 64 concerned an appeal by the Syndicate against a declaration that the Syndicate was liable to indemnify the BPA. 

…
Read More UK: Court of Appeal Considers Meaning of “Liable as Damages”

As previously reported here, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Wyeth v. Levine on November 3, 2008.  The case involves the question of whether the Food and Drug Administration’s (“FDA”) regulation of prescription drug labeling pursuant to Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, 21 U.S.C. § 301 et seq. (“FDCA”) preempts state common law tort claims. To date, the Supreme Court has not released its decision. 

…
Read More UPDATE: Recusal Issue Arises in U.S. Supreme Court’s Consideration of Wyeth v. Levine Drug Labeling Preemption Case