Today, Thursday, August 28, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge’s Insurance and Reinsurance Department will host a webinar entitled “Insurance Implications of Climate Change”. This 60 minute webinar will comprise a discussion of the global legal framework which recognizes the reality of climate change. 

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Read More TODAY’S WEBINAR: Insurance Implications of Climate Change

The First Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that, under Puerto Rico law, a breach of warranty excuses a maritime insurer from paying a claim regardless of whether the breach has any causal connection to the loss at issue.  Lloyd’s of London, et al. v. Pagan-Sanchez, et al., No.
Read More First Circuit Addresses Puerto Rico Law on Impact of Insured’s Breach of Warranty

On October 7, 2008, the New York Insurance Department and New York Department of Health will be holding a joint meeting to address out-of-network insurance coverage.  The hearing will be held in response to numerous consumer complaints regarding bills from specialists whom the consumers did not know were out-of-network. 

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Read More New York to Hold Joint Hearing on Out-of-Network Coverage

Reports indicate that state and federal regulators are now turning their attention to Fidelity’s and Schwab’s participation in the Auction Rate Securities (ARS) market. 

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Read More Regulators Probing Fidelity’s and Schwab’s Involvement in Auction Rate Securities Issues

The Federal District Court for the District of Puerto Rico recently issued a 58-page decision on post-trial motions in which it extensively discussed Puerto Rico law concerning insurer bad faith and consequential damages in the context of an alleged bad faith denial of coverage. …
Read More Puerto Rico Federal Court Examines Issues of Bad Faith (“Dolo”) and Consequential Damages in Insurance Coverage Disputes

On 22 August 2008, Aon Corporation (Aon) and Benfield Group Limited (Benfield) announced that the boards of both companies had unanimously approved an agreement under which Aon will acquire Benfield for £3.50 per share in cash and assume approximately £91 million of Benfield’s net debt, representing an enterprise value of £935 million ($1.75 billion) on a fully diluted basis. …
Read More UK/US: Aon to Acquire Benfield Group Limited

The provisions of the Act are coming into force in stages, with all provisions expected to be in force by 1 October 2009. GC100 has published an information pack to help companies prepare for the requirements of the Act that will come into force on 1 October 2008. Changes coming into effect on 1 October 2008 include: the introduction of new statutory duties for directors in relation to conflicts of interest; the abolition of the financial assistance prohibition for private companies; and the introduction of a new capital reduction procedure for private companies. …
Read More UK: The Association for General Counsel (GC100) Publishes Pack on Directors’ Conflicts of Interest to Help Companies Prepare for the Requirements of the Companies Act 2006 (the Act)

On Friday, August 15, 2008, Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty announced that the Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) had reached a limited agreement with the Allstate Companies (Allstate). …
Read More Allstate Agrees to Resolve Litigation with Florida Insurance Commission by Paying Fine, Decreasing Rates and Writing More Homeowners Insurance in Florida

UBS recently agreed to buy back $18.6B in auction rate securities (ARS) and pay $150M in penalties ($75M to the State of New York, and $75M to the North American Securities Administrators Association) to settle allegations made by the New York Attorney General and the Securities and Exchange Commission that UBS fraudulently marketed the safety of ARS to customers. …
Read More UBS Auction Rate Securities Settlement

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley recently announced a settlement with Morgan Stanley & Company (“Morgan Stanley”) to resolve allegations that Morgan Stanley sold high risk auction rate securities (ARS) to Massachusetts municipalities and presented the securities as safe investments. 

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Read More Morgan Stanley to Reimburse Massachusetts Municipalities for Auction Rate Securities