On December 17, 2008, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick signed House Bill No. 4508, An Act Protecting Military Services Members (the “Act), into law.  The purpose of the Act is to protect members of the armed forces from dishonest and predatory insurance practices by declaring certain acts or practices to be false, misleading, deceptive or unfair. …
Read More Massachusetts Law Aims to Protect Military Members from Predatory Insurance Practices

This blog updates our September 29, 2008 and December 8, 2008 postings.

A number of industry groups and interested parties have issued statements responding to the adoption of the Reinsurance Regulatory Modernization Framework Proposal (“Proposal”) at the NAIC Winter National Meeting, the adoption. …
Read More Industry Responds to Adoption of NAIC Reinsurance Modernization Proposal

On January 21, 2009, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge’s Privacy Group will host a complimentary breakfast seminar (in the firm’s Boston office) on the new security and privacy requirements in Massachusetts. 

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Read More Upcoming Seminar on New Massachusetts Security Rules & What You Need to Do to Comply by May 1

In our September 2008 Insurance and Reinsurance Review  we summarised the decision in Barclay v British Airways  (2008 1 CLC 253) in which the Court considered the meaning of “accident” in the context of Article 17.1 of the Montreal Convention 1999 (the Convention). 

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Read More UK: Meaning of Accident Slips into the Court of Appeal – Barclay v. British Airways

The Federal District Court for the District of Maine recently held that a discrimination suit was not covered by a directors and officers liability insurance policy where the suit alleged corporate actions through a company’s officers and directors, but named only the company as a defendant. 

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Read More Federal Court Rules That No D&O Coverage Exists For Discrimination Claims Despite Allegations Against Company’s Directors and Officers

Earlier this month, the Connecticut Superior Court for the Judicial District of Waterbury, Complex Litigation Docket, ruled that where a contractor was sued based on allegations of poor workmanship, the allegations are not covered by the contractor’s general liability policy because they do not constitute an “occurrence.” …
Read More Connecticut Court Rules That Insured Contractor’s Faulty Work Cannot Constitute Occurrence

The Instituto Nacional de Seguros (INS), the Costa Rican insurer that previously enjoyed a national monopoly, recently announced the launching of 17 new insurance products and also confirmed its intent to enter each of the other Central American insurance markets in 2009. 

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Read More Costa Rica: INS Announces 17 New Products; Confirms Intent to Enter Other Central American Insurance Markets in 2009

On 27 November 2008, the European Commission (EC) published its Green Paper on Consumer Collective Redress. The paper proposes new methods to help large numbers of consumers who have been harmed by a trader’s breach of consumer law. 

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Read More EU : European Commission Publishes Green Paper on Consumer Collective Redress

AIG announced yesterday that it had completed a sale of residential mortgage backed securities (“RMBS”) to Maiden Lane II, a fund established by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (the “NY Fed”) as part of its plan to ensure AIG remains solvent.  The assets, with a face value of $39.3 billion, were purchased by Maiden Lane II for $19.8 billion.  The fund was established to eliminate the liquidity issues associated with AIG’s securities lending program. …
Read More AIG Completes Sale of Residential Mortgage Backed Securities to the NY Fed

On December 10, 2008, the Senate Finance Committee (the “Committee”) held a meeting to discuss proposed legislation (the “Proposal”) that would reduce the purported competitive advantage in tax treatment received by affiliated foreign reinsurers by altering the tax code to disallow deductions for a portion of reinsurance premiums ceded by insurance companies to affiliated foreign reinsurers who are not subject to U.S. taxation. …
Read More Senate Finance Committee Discusses Reinsurance Tax Legislation