Arch Capital Group Ltd. (“Arch”)  has announced it will enter the emerging reinsurance market in the Middle East.  Gulf Re, a new reinsurer backed by Arch and the government-funded entity Gulf Investment Corp., will be based in the Dubai International Financial Centre and begin underwriting in that region upon receiving regulatory approval. 

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Read More Another Reinsurer to Enter the Growing Middle Eastern Market

In what appears to be a matter of first impression in Florida, a federal Magistrate Judge in the Southern District of Florida denied the comparative bad faith and comparative negligence defenses in an excess insurer’s bad faith claim against a primary insurer. 

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Read More Comparative Bad Faith Defense Not Available in Florida Suit Between Primary and Excess Insurers

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) has launched a new website providing detail about Bermuda’s regulatory standards online, which demonstrates the BMA’s commitment to providing open, transparent regulatory frameworks and requirements. 

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Read More Bermuda Monetary Authority Website Sets Out Detailed Regulatory Standards

A Georgia state court of appeals recently rejected an insured’s argument that an insurance policy’s time limit for bringing suit should be treated as tolled during the period that the insured and the insurer are engaged in settlement negotiations. 

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Read More Georgia State Appeals Court: Settlement Negotiations Do Not Toll Policy’s Time Limit on Bringing Suit Where Insurer Explicitly Reserved Its Rights

On March 25, 2008, the California Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court judgment holding that coverage under an excess policy was not triggered because the primary insurer had neither paid the “full amount” of its policy limits nor become legally obligated to pay the full amount of the primary limits pursuant to the parties’ settlement agreement. 

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Read More California State Court: Coverage Under an Excess Policy is not Triggered until the Underlying Insurer Either Pays Its Own Limits in “Full” or is “Held Liable” For the Full Amount of Its Limits

On 26 March,  the Financial Services Authority (FSA) published a summary of a review carried out by its internal audit division into its supervision of Northern Rock. The Chief Executive of the FSA admitted that the supervision of Northern Rock in the period leading up to the market instability of late last summer was not carried out to an acceptable standard. 

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Read More UK: FSA Moves to Enhance Supervision in Wake of Northern Rock

Several members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to Department of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on March 13, 2008, requesting the Department of Treasury provide clear regulations outlining the application of the Foreign Investment and National Security Act (“FINSA”) on foreign investment in domestically owned companies. 

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Read More House Representatives Request Clarifications to FINSA Application in Treasury Department Regulations

Insurance companies are often stakeholders in interpleader actions.  EAPD’s Vince Vitkowsky has recorded a podcast for a public policy group analyzing the issues presented by the pending U.S. Supreme Court case, Philippines v. Pimentel, which was argued on March 17, 2008. The case arises from an interpleader action commenced by Merrill Lynch concerning an account containing assets deposited by the late President of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos. 

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Read More Supreme Court Hears Argument in International Interpleader Action