On January 10, 2019, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker signed House Bill No. 4806 into law.  The bill amends certain provisions of the state data breach notification law, increasing reporting requirements on a person or agency collecting personal information of Massachusetts residents.
Read More Updates to Massachusetts Data Breach Laws: House Bill No. 4806

On Tuesday, June 18th, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill 301 (the “Bill”), an insurance omnibus package aimed at modernizing the state’s surplus lines industry.
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 12): Florida Embraces Surplus Lines Modernization

The Deal has awarded Locke Lord with its 2019 Deal of the Year distinction for the Firm’s role as national insurance regulatory counsel to CVS Health in its completed acquisition of Aetna. The honor was announced at the June 20 ceremony for The Deal Awards, which recognize leading lawyers, bankers, advisers and investors who are setting the trends in the industry.
Read More Locke Lord Receives Deal of the Year Award From The Deal for Role in CVS Health’s Acquisition of Aetna

On June 17th, the Excess Lines Association of New York (“ELANY”) published Bulletin No. 2019-19 (the “Bulletin”) detailing New York’s substantial restrictions on group property and casualty insurance policies. The Bulletin echoes some of the remarks at the most recent Surplus Lines Law Group Meeting where this author provided details on the growing regulatory concerns as to group P&C policies.
Read More Locke Lord QuickStudy: Excess Lines Association of New York Publishes Guidance on New York Group P&C Policies

Washington H.B. 1001 was enacted on April 8, 2019, and will take effect on July 28, 2019.1 H.B. 1001 makes changes to Wash Rev. Code Chapter 48.110 governing service contracts and protection product guarantees which permit new items to be covered under service contracts and establishes new minimum net worth and financial responsibility requirements for service contract providers.
Read More Locke Lord QuickStudy: New Washington Statutory Financial Requirements for Providers of Service Contracts and Protection Product Guarantees Effective July 28, 2019

On June 10, 2019, Governor Phil Scott of Vermont signed Senate Bill 131 (the “Bill”) into law, permitting domestic surplus line insurers to offer and sell surplus lines insurance under a surplus lines certificate of authority in the state.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and as mentioned in our previous post found here, Nevada passed similar legislation earlier this month.
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 11): Vermont authorizes Domestic Surplus Lines Insurers; Standardizes Premium Tax rates; Repeals SLIMPACT

Add Nevada to the growing list of states that have adopted domestic surplus lines legislation. Senate Bill 86 (the “Bill”) was signed into law on June 1, 2019, with most provisions effective October 1, 2019. Of perhaps most significance Is that Nevada will now allow for insurance companies to domesticate in Nevada for the exclusive purpose of writing surplus lines insurance coverage within the state and potentially elsewhere.
Read More LL Surplus Lines Series (Entry 10): Nevada Joins List of Domestic Surplus Lines Insurer States; Revises Broker Fee Statute; Other Changes

Chicago Of Counsel Mike Rohan has been elected to the Board of Directors of the Insurance Regulatory Examiners Society (IRES) Foundation. The Foundation’s mission is to promote professionalism and education in the insurance regulatory community and to educate the private sector about state insurance regulation.
Read More Mike Rohan Elected to IRES Board