Alabama Governor Bob Riley announced on August 8, 2008 that Walter A. Bell will be resigning as Alabama’s Insurance Commissioner at the end of this month.  Bell has served as Insurance Commissioner since January 2003.  Last year, he served as president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”), making him the first Alabama commissioner to head the NAIC. …
Read More Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter Bell Resigns

Costa Rican President Dr. Oscar Arias Sanchez recently signed into law the new Ley Reguladora del Mercado de Seguros, thereby ending the Instituto Nacional de Seguros’ (INS) more than eighty-year-old monopoly over the Costa Rican insurance business.  The Consejo Nacional de Supervision del Sistema Financiero (CONASSIF) is charged with establishing an insurance regulatory authority and implementing the other mandates of the new law. …
Read More Costa Rica Opens Insurance Market to Competition

A group of Merrill Lynch entities (Merrill Lynch) recently filed a motion to dismiss a securities class action pending in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.  The plaintiffs generally assert that Merrill Lynch failed to disclose the extent of its subprime exposure arising out of its holdings in collateralized debt obligations. 

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Read More Merrill Lynch Seeks Dismissal of Subprime Based Securities Class Action

Plaintiff Long Island Insurance Company (“LIICO”) instituted a declaratory judgment action and moved for summary judgment against certain defendants, including its insured, Oneil Johnson (“Johnson”), seeking an order that it had no duty to defend or indemnify Johnson in an underlying personal injury action. 

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Read More New York State Court Finds That Insurer’s Nearly Two-Month Delay in Denying Coverage was Unreasonable as a Matter of Law

According to a recent report by Bloomberg News, states, cities, hospitals, and other municipal borrowers have now refinanced approximately $96.2 billion of their $166 billion in auction rate bonds, which amounts to about 58% of all auction-rate bonds.  The current $3 billion a week average rate of municipal bond refinancing has slowed a bit from the $5.5 billion a week average in April and May. …
Read More Decline in Municipal Auction-Rate Debt as Various States Continue to Refinance

A New York state court recently dismissed claims brought by the liquidator of a hedge fund against the fund’s accountants on the ground that the claims were barred by the doctrine of in pari delicto.  Bullmore v. Ernst & Young Cayman Islands, No. 104314/05 (June 19, 2008). 

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Read More Hedge Fund Liquidators Barred from Bringing Negligence Claims Against Auditors

In response to concerns over the adequacy of reserves held by some charitable gift annuity programs, the New York State Insurance Department issued a notice imposing additional requirements for such reserves. 

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Read More New York Imposes Additional Charitable Gift Annuity Requirements

Following the recent passing of the Insurance Amendment Act 2008, the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has announced that it will introduce the Bermuda Solvency Capital Requirement (BSCR), an enhanced solvency regime to apply to Bermuda’s Class 4 reinsurers. The BSCR is intended to establish risk-based capital adequacy standards for high impact reinsurers. …
Read More Bermuda Monetary Authority Announces New Rules on Insurance Solvency for Class 4, Reclassification of Class 3 and New Class of SPVs

Robert Lewis Rosen Associates, Inc. (“RLR”) petitioned the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to vacate an arbitration award issued in favor of William Webb (“Webb”) on the grounds that the arbitrator acted in manifest disregard of the law. 

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Read More New York Federal Court Finds That Doctrine of Manifest Disregard of the Law is No Longer Good Law

A special assembly dominated by members of President Rafael Correa’s Alianza PAIS party recently approved a proposed new Ecuadorian constitution that would grant the president broad political and economic powers.  The proposed new constitution now faces a national public vote scheduled for September 28, 2008. …
Read More Special Assembly Approves New Proposed Ecuadorian Constitution