Qualitas, Mexico’s largest automobile insurer, has reportedly indicated that it is considering expanding its operations into Costa Rica and Panama.  The announcement comes on the heels of Qualitas’ entry into the insurance market in El Salvador at the beginning of December.  Referring to the more than year and a half it took for Qualitas to obtain authorization in El Salvador, company CFO Wilfrido Castillo reportedly commented that the company hopes authorization would come more quickly in Panama and Costa Rica. 

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Read More Costa Rica Roundup: Mexican Auto Insurer Expresses Interest in Market; Tourism Concerns and New Foreign Investment

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts recently held that an insurer had no duty to defend or indemnify its insureds where the insureds’ claims “arose out of” acts that occurred prior to the policy’s retroactive date. 

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Read More Massachusetts Federal Court Finds Retroactive Date Bars Coverage Despite Plaintiff’s “Continuing Scheme” Theory

Allianz Insurance Company – Eygpt (“Allianz”) v. Aigaion Insurance Company S.A. (“Aigaion”) EWCA Civ 1455 concerned the issue of whether negotiations for marine reinsurance had concluded in a contract. The negotiations were conducted via a broker between offices in different countries. …
Read More UK: Court of Appeal Considers Effect of Contractual Negotiations Conducted by E-mail

In an action for rescission of a professional liability policy, Maine’s highest court recently held that an insurer must prove both fraud and materiality as well as actual reliance.   In that case, Liberty Insurance Underwriters, Inc. v. Estate of Faulkner, Yor-07-180 (Me. Oct. 7, 2008), a attorney allegedly made misrepresentations in his 2003 application for a lawyer’s professional liability insurance policy when he responded “no” when asked  if he had “ever been disbarred or been the subject of reprimand, censure, sanction, or other disciplinary action” by the Bar. 

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Read More Maine Supreme Judicial Court Requires Fraud, Materiality, and Actual Reliance for Rescission of Professional Liability Policy

On November 11, 2008, Frank Keating, President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Council of Life Insurers (“ACLI”), submitted a proposal to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) asking the NAIC to consider changing reserve and risk-based capital requirements that it believes are too conservative (the “Proposal”). 

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Read More NAIC Considers Reserve and Capital Relief Proposal for Life Insurers

The National Conference of Insurance Legislators (“NCOIL”) has proposed to hold a strategy summit in early 2009 to plan and organize opposition to any federal involvement in the regulation of insurance.  This announcement follows the recent adoption of the Resolution Opposing Continuing Federal Insurance Chartering Efforts by the Council of State Governments (“CSG”) where it was resolved, amongst other things, that state officials continue to monitor, review and regulate the banking, insurance and securities industries as it relates to their individual jurisdictions. 

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Read More NCOIL Proposes Summit to Discuss Opposition to Proposed Regulatory Reform

Latin American countries are liberalizing their regulatory schemes to conform to the nations’ free trade agreements with Europe and the United States and to satisfy internal demands for better pricing and products.  With economic conditions continuing to deteriorate in many of the world’s largest economies, international companies are taking a closer look at Latin America as a potential alternative market for investment and operations. …
Read More Free Webinar: (Re)emerging Mercados: Significant Recent Developments in the Latin American Insurance and Reinsurance Markets

An Ohio District Court recently denied an insurer’s motion to bifurcate its insured’s bad faith counterclaim from its declaratory judgment coverage action and to stay related bad faith discovery. 

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Read More Ohio District Court Refuses to Bifurcate Bad Faith Counterclaim from Coverage Action and Refuses to Prohibit Disclosure of Pre-Denial Communications with Coverage Counsel

On December 17, 2008, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) voted 4 – 1 in favor of classifying equity-indexed annuities as securities, subjecting them to federal regulation.  As discussed in our earlier posts here and here, the new rule, which takes effect January 12, 2011, seeks to clarify the status of indexed annuities under the federal securities laws. 

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Read More SEC Votes to Regulate Indexed Annuities

A key part of the new Solvency II regime, due to come into force in 2012, looks set to be removed or watered down following a recent meeting of the EU’s Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin). The group supervision and group support proposals approved by the European Parliament would allow assessment of capital and risk across an insurance group and increased co-ordination of the relevant supervisors. 

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Read More Solvency II: Group Supervision Proposals Under Threat