In the latest adverse development in  the deepening credit crisis, federal regulators recently seized the assets of IndyMac Bank, a major mortgage lender.   IndyMac held $32.01 billion in assets as of March 31, 2008.  The Office of Thrift Supervision said it transferred IndyMac’s operations to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation because it no longer had confidence that IndyMac could meet its depositors’ demands. 

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Read More Government Shuts Down Mortgage Lender IndyMac: FDIC Takes Over Operations

On July 8, 2008, the SEC announced the results of its investigation of the three major rating agencies, Fitch Ratings Ltd., Moody’s Investor Services Inc. and Standard & Poor’s.  The investigation uncovered “significant weaknesses in ratings practices.” …
Read More SEC Ratings Agency Investigation Finds Serious Problems and Proposes Some Rule Changes

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York recently held that a U.S. court does not have subject matter jurisdiction over a lawsuit in which 90% of the proposed class is made up of foreign investors who purchased the securities at issue on foreign exchanges. 

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Read More New York Federal Court Rejects “Global Fraud-on-the-Market” Presumption

A Florida appellate court recently held that the retroactivity limitation for asbestos lawsuits under the state’s 2005 Asbestos and Silica Compensation Act rendered the entire Act unconstitutional. 

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Read More Florida Appeals Court: 2005 Asbestos and Silica Compensation Act is Unconstitutional

Last month, the New York Court of Appeals held that a tenant breached its lease and, in doing so, violated New York Insurance Law § 3404.  The court ruled that the lease was breached because the tenant obtaining insurance coverage that explicitly excluded terrorism losses from coverage. 

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Read More New York’s Highest Court Holds that Policy with Terrorism Exclusion Restricts the Cause of Potential Covered Damages

The California State Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed that, under California law, claims made in one policy period and reported in a subsequent policy period are not covered under either of consecutive “claims made and reported” policies when both policies require that a claim be made and reported during the same policy period. 

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Read More California State Court: Claim Made In One Period And Reported In A Subsequent Period Not Covered By “Claims Made And Reported” Policy

This week the UK government published a consultation paper seeking the views of interested parties on what should be done in relation to compensation for those who have developed pleural plaques. 

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Read More UK Government Publishes a Consultation Paper on Compensation for Pleural Plaques

Last month, the Senate began debate on the first comprehensive climate change bill, known as the Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act (the “Bill”).  The Bill would rely on a “cap and trade” program (the “Program”) to give power plants, factories and refineries financial incentive to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.  Under the Bill, the Program would first set a cap on the total carbon dioxide emissions allowed in the United States. 

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Read More Senate Debates Global Warming Bill