The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld an exclusion in a D&O policy barring coverage for suits against officers and directors arising out of the underwriting and sales of securities.  Leonard v. Executive Risk Indemnity, Inc., No. 07-1327 (8th Cir. Oct. 27, 2008). 


Read More D&O Policy Exclusion Barring Coverage for Securities Suits is not Limited to Only the Insured’s Securities

In congressional testimony before the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday, November 20, 2008, New York Superintendent of Insurance Eric Dinallo announced that New York is postponing its plans to regulate certain credit default swap contracts (“CDS Contracts”) as insurance. 
Read More N.Y. Reconsiders Regulating Credit Default Swaps as Insurance

A New York federal district court recently held that an insured’s claim for consequential extra-contractual damages is properly part of its breach of contract claim against its carrier. 


Read More New York Court Finds Insured Entitled to Seek “Consequential Extra-Contractual Damages” on Breach of Contract Claim Against Carrier

The Office of Fair Trading, on 7 February 2007, referred the supply of PPI to non business customers in the UK to the CC. The subsequent CC investigation found that the vast majority of policies are sold at the same time that consumers take out loans or other credit and that consumers rarely shop around or switch PPI providers. 


Read More UK: Competition Commission (CC) Publishes its Proposals to Increase Competition in the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) Market (the Provisional Decision)

The FSA continues to monitor insurance comparison websites to ensure that information is conveyed to the public in a clear, fair and not misleading way. In doing so, the FSA has revisited the 17 websites that were originally assessed in May 2008 to gauge where and how progress has been made since the initial review. 


Read More UK: Financial Services Authority (FSA) Review of Insurance Comparison Websites

In Michael Wilson & Partners Limited (A company incorporated in the British Virgin Islands) v John Forster Emmott [2008] EWHC 2684 (Comm), the court was asked to consider whether a decision of an arbitral tribunal consisting of an answer to two procedural questions was an award as to its substantive jurisdiction, and as such open to challenge under s.67 Arbitration Act 1996 (the Act). 


Read More The English High Court Considers the Challenge of Arbitration Awards Under s.67 Arbitration Act 1996

PwC published a report in September 2008, which gives an insight into how foreign insurance companies within the Chinese market view industry trends, the challenges they are facing and how they consider the insurance market in China will grow and evolve over the next three years. 


Read More HK: Report on Foreign Insurers in China

On 12th November the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment in Limit No. 2 Limited v AXA. AXA, who had taken over the reinsurers, a German company called Albingia, sought to avoid a claim for misrepresentation brought by the reassured, Limit No.2 Limited, who were syndicates at Lloyd’s. 


Read More UK: Limit No. 2 Limited v AXA

A Florida district court recently denied two insurers’ motion to dismiss a count for breach of the implied warranty of good faith and fair dealing.  Arlen House East Condo. v. QBE Int’l Ins. Ltd., No. 07-23199, 2008 WL 4500690 (S.D. Fla. Sept. 30, 2008).  The court rejected the insurers’ argument that the breach of implied warranty count was merely a “disguised” first-party statutory bad faith claim. 


Read More Florida District Court Refuses to Dismiss Claim for Breach of Implied Warranty of Good Faith, Holding that It Was Not a Bad Faith Claim in Disguise

In Wachovia Ins. Serv., Inc. v. Toomey, No. 06-1110, 2008 WL 4379587 (Fla. Sept. 29, 2008), the Florida Supreme Court answered two interrelated, certified questions from the Eleventh Circuit. 


Read More Florida Supreme Court Holds that an Insured Can Assign its Causes of Action Against a Nonparty Insurance Broker and Obtain a Release, Consistent with the Court’s Decision in Cope