The Texas Department of Insurance (“TDI”) has issued a warning about certain unauthorized ‎insurance and the liability that can attach to third-party administrators (“TPAs”) and insurance ‎agents that are involved in unauthorized insurance transactions, even when those parties hold ‎valid TDI licenses.
Read More Texas Department of Insurance Warns Insurance Agents and TPAs About Unauthorized ‎Insurance Liability

The U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs met on September 12, 2019 for the purpose of discussing areas of concern regarding the regulation and supervision of the global insurance industry. In addition to Committee members, representatives of Team USA (NAIC, Federal Reserve and Federal Insurance Office) provided commentary.
Read More Locke Lord QuickStudy: Capital and Risk Assessment Highlight U.S. Senate Committee Meeting on Insurance Issues

Insurance agency acquisitions and deal values are near an all-time high and all expectations are that deal flow in 2019 will match or exceed last year’s numbers. And while reported numbers tend to skew towards larger agency transactions there are many agency deals that involve small, local firms that do not appear in industry reports.
Read More 8 Things to Consider When Buying or Selling an Insurance Agency

As reported in the Insurance Journal, the surplus lines industry is expanding at an approximately 13% faster rate than it was during this time in 2018.  Stamping offices are indicating that premium has already hit $18 billion, a 12.7% growth over mid-year 2018 reports.  All surplus lines service office states except for Nevada have reported a growth in premiums generated by the surplus lines market.  Some of the major coverages that are being increasingly written in the surplus lines space and are contributing to this growth are construction, professional and general liability coverages.
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 15): Mid-Year 2019 Report Shows Impressive Surplus Lines Growth

Ben Sykes will serve as a panelist at the Insurtech on the Silicon Prairie conference on Oct. 22. His topic is insurtech/innovation and regulatory modernization. The annual conference is a one-day event bringing national experts, companies, and regulators together to discuss the rapidly changing insurance landscape.
Read More Ben Sykes to Speak at Insurtech on the Silicon Prairie

Locke Lord LLP and Novarica will look at new regulatory developments in analytics, use of data, and data security that have the potential to affect insurer technology strategy. This webinar covers the potential effects of regulation on the use of analytics and AI in life insurance underwriting, how privacy requirements may affect insurer data governance and MDM strategies, and how third-party data security requirements may affect distribution technology strategies.
Read More Complimentary Webinar: Insurance IT Strategy and Regulatory Compliance: AI, CCPA and NY DFS

Locke Lord’s Regulatory and Transactional Insurance Practice Group has teamed with Novarica, a leading insurance industry technology research, advisory services and consulting firm, to address the impact of evolving insurance regulation on information technology systems of insurance and reinsurance companies. Atlanta Partner Brian Casey, Co-Leader of Locke Lord’s Regulatory and Transactional Insurance Practice Group, Hartford Office Managing Partner Ted Augustinos, member of the steering committee of the Firm’s Privacy and Cybersecurity Group, and Chicago Partner Ben Sykes co-authored the first installment of a quarterly report with Novarica on insurance technology strategy and regulatory compliance.…

Read More Insurance Technology Strategy and Regulatory Compliance, Vol. 1

At the National Association of Insurance Commissioners Summer National Meeting in New York, the Surplus Lines Task Force discussed a new Blanks proposal regarding home state direct premium written.  The Task Force notes that the intent of the new Blank is to provide “a basis for state regulators to reconcile broker reported surplus lines premium with company provided information to better ensure that states are receiving the proper amount of surplus lines premium taxes.  Premium taxes on surplus lines premiums are based on the total policy premium and paid by surplus lines brokers solely to the “Home State” of the insured as defined in Section 527 of the Non-Admitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2010 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.” …
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 14): NAIC Surplus Lines Task Force Considers Blanks Proposal for Home State Direct Premiums Written

To date, six states from Michigan to Alabama have adopted versions of the National Association of Insurance Commissioner’s model insurance data security law (the “NAIC model”).  The NAIC model generally requires entities licensed or authorized to operate under a state’s insurance laws to develop a cybersecurity program, investigate and report data breaches, and certify compliance with the law to the state’s insurance commissioner.  Connecticut joined the growing list of states that have adopted a version of the NAIC model, buried in a budget bill, when Governor Ned Lamont signed Public Act 19-117 (the “Act”), on June 26, 2019, effective in relevant part on October 1, 2020.
Read More Connecticut Adopts Insurance Data Security Law