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

The recent case of Van Der Giessen-de-Noord Shipbuilding Division B.V. v Imtech Marine & Offshore B.V. [2008] EWHC 2904 concerned the challenge to an arbitration award arising out of a marine construction dispute. Imtech had been hired by Van Der Giessen-de-Noord (GN) to carry out electrical works on a ship GN was building for Brittany Ferries. The works apparently suffered from delays, disruption and extra work which resulted in Imtech making a claim against GM and GM making a counter claim. 

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Read More UK: High Court Judge Sets Aside Arbitration Award Because of Irregularity and Unfairness

The New York Insurance Department has long prided itself for being an activist state regulator for insurance business underwritten in the world’s financial capital. …
Read More The New York Insurance Department Will No Longer Approve D&O Policies Lacking “Duty-to-Defend” Coverage Feature

The first Cumbre de Latinoamerica y el Caribe will take place this week outside of Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, with a focus on regional cooperation and integration.  The event will be attended by representatives from the region’s 33 countries and will mark the first time that the leaders of the entire region have come together of their own accord rather than at the initiation of the United States or the European Union. …
Read More Inaugural Latin American and Caribbean Summit to Stress Regional Integration

Four of the companies that have organized under the Puerto Rican International Insurance Center announced recently that they have created an association to promote Puerto Rico’s competitiveness in the international insurance and reinsurance markets. …
Read More Puerto Rican Offshore Insurance Companies Create Association

Despite significant domestic and international concerns, the Argentine government has now made official its elimination of the country’s private pension system.  The Argentine legislature passed Ley 26.425 on November 20, 2008 and President Kirchner signed the law on December 4, 2008, establishing instead an Argentine Integrated Pension System (SIPA) to replace the current capitalization regime as of January 1, 2009. …
Read More Argentina Enacts Law Eliminating Private Pension System

Fitch recently released a report on the Costa Rican Insurance Market, “Sector Seguros de Costa Rica: Solvente y Competitivo Ante la Apertura.”  The report finds that, excluding Panama, Costa Rica is Central America’s largest and fastest-growing insurance market even before it is opened to private competition. 

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Read More Costa Rica Is Central America’s Largest And Fastest-Growing Insurance Market

New York state’s highest court recently held that service on Brazilian defendants in Brazil was effective under New York law even if it did not satisfy Brazilian standards for service of process. 

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Read More New York Court of Appeals Recognizes Personal Jurisdiction Over Brazilian Domiciliaries Served In Brazil Under New York Law