Over the last few months, www.insurereinsure.com has reported on the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Hall Street Associates v. Mattel, Inc., 128 S.Ct. 1396 (2008) (click here to view previous post), which held that parties could not contract to expand the grounds for vacatur or modification of arbitration awards under the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), and the potential impact its holding might have on the doctrine of manifest disregard of the law (click here to view previous post). …
Read More Post Hall Street, Federal Courts Differ On the Application of Manifest Disregard of the Law

The House Subcommittee on Capital markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises (the “Subcommittee”) and the House Committee on Financial Services (the “Full Committee”) approved three insurance regulatory bills on July 9, 2008.  This post provides updates on the three bills that have most recently advanced Congress’ examination of proposals to institute federal oversight of the insurance industry. 

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Read More UPDATE: House Committees Approve Three Federal Insurance Regulation Bills

In a recent decision of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, In re Federal Mogul Global, Inc., No. 01-10578 (JKF) (Bankr. D. Del., Mar. 19,  2008) (click here to read the decision), the court ruled that the assignment of rights in certain insurance policies to an asbestos trust was valid and enforceable under the Bankruptcy Code, and anti-assignment provisions in the policies and applicable state law were preempted. …
Read More Bankruptcy Court Rules That Federal Mogul Insurance Policies May Be Assigned to Asbestos Liability Trust

Recently, the House Financial Services Oversight and Investigation Subcommittee held a hearing where speakers from various insurance industry and consumer protection groups gave testimony regarding “The Impact of Credit-Based Insurance Scoring on the Availability and Affordability of Insurance.” 

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Read More Use of Credit Scores in Personal Line Insurance Rating

On November 7, 2007, former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr. filed a lawsuit in the Civil District for the Parish of Orleans alleging that under Louisiana’s antitrust laws certain insurers and insurance industry participants fixed prices, manipulated damage estimates and low-balled claims payments after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

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Read More Antitrust Lawsuit Filed By Louisiana Against Insurers and Insurance Industry Participants Stays In Federal Court

Brazil’s insurance regulator, the Superintendency of Private Insurance (SUSEP), recently issued regulations establishing that cessions to occasional reinsurers (see definition below) by Brazilian insurers may not exceed 10% of the total premiums ceded to reinsurers.  The new regulations further establish that no Brazilian insurer may cede more than 50% of the risk it underwrites to occasional reinsurers.  The moves were not unexpected, having been foreshadowed in SUSEP’s discussions with the industry. …
Read More Brazil Issues New Regulations Governing Maximum Cession Levels To Occasional Reinsurers

On July 14th, industry representatives presented their viewpoints on the need to reform the current New York regulations regarding producer compensation standards and disclosure to a panel consisting of officials from the New York Insurance Department and the Office of the Attorney General. 

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Read More The New York Insurance Department and New York Attorney General Held the First of Three Joint-Hearings Regarding Insurance Producer Compensation

In the June issue of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge’s Insurance and Reinsurance Review, we reported on the the key amendments proposed by the UK Treasury in its draft Lloyd’s Legislative Reform Order (LRO) (the article can be found here). We have also blogged previously the overwhelming support of Lloyd’s members for the proposals (the post can be found here). 

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Read More Lloyd’s Legislative Reform Order Laid Before Parliament

Following a meeting between BIBA and IIB, the two broker bodies have confirmed that they are working together to address concerns raised by the FSA’s discussion paper entitled ‘Transparency, disclosure and conflicts of interest in the commercial insurance market’ (the DP) (See: BIBA press release). 

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Read More UK: British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) and the Institute of Insurance Brokers (IIB) Liaise on Transparency Issues

The Supreme Court of Connecticut recently affirmed a 2006 Superior Court decision that a liability insurer for a subcontractor was required to provide a defense for the general contractor in connection with a lawsuit alleging workplace injuries to employees of the subcontractor allegedly injured on the job. …
Read More Connecticut Supreme Court Upholds Decision Requiring Insurer for Subcontractor to Defend Contractor