On February 13, 2008, United States District Court Judge Saundra Brown Armstrong appointed Gwyn Jones, a U.K. citizen that resides in Cyprus, as the lead plaintiff in a securities class action brought against BigBand Networks, Inc., its directors and officers, and other defendants. …
Read More Foreign Plaintiff Named Lead Plaintiff in BigBand Securities Class Action

Industry users of arbitration services have expressed dissatisfaction in the context of smaller disputes, those in the range of $100,000 to $ 750,000.  Specifically, some arbitrators are requesting that their retainers be non-refundable, even if the case is settled before the retainer is exhausted. …
Read More Industry Users and Reinsurance Arbitrators

On 26 February 2008, the European Commission issued an amended proposal to the Solvency II Directive Proposal (COM (2007) 361) which was adopted on 10 July 2007. The July 2007 version of the Solvency II Directive Proposal represented a recast of 13 existing Directives in the insurance and reinsurance sector, together with new solvency provisions. …
Read More Commission Issues Amended Proposal to the Solvency II Proposal

The Kansas Senate has passed a bill, S.B. 560, that would allow property/casualty insurers to increase rates up to 12% without regulatory approval.  The bill was based on the National Conference of Insurance Legislators’ (“NCOIL”) Flex-Rating Model Act.  The version passed by the Kansas Senate differs slightly from the NCOIL Flex-Rating Model Act, in that it also allows property/casualty insurers to decrease rates by any amount, rather than establishing a 12% floor. …
Read More Kansas May Adopt Flex-Rating For Property/Casualty Insurers

In Wasa v Lexington [2008] EWCA Civ 150, Lexington appealed against the decision of the English Commercial Court that it was not entitled to recover from its reinsurers in full its settlement with its insured, Alcoa. Lexington had settled with Alcoa after being found jointly and severally liable by the Supreme Court of Washington for Alcoa’s clean-up costs for pollution damage, irrespective of whether the damage had been sustained before, during or after the insurance period. …
Read More Follow the Settlements – the English Court of Appeal Overturns the Controversial First Instance Decision in Wasa v Lexington

Two weeks ago the Florida House of Representatives’ Jobs and Entrepreneurship Committee unanimously passed a bill, requiring insurers, which participate in Florida’s Hurricane Catastrophe Fund (“Cat Fund”), to purchase reinsurance from the private market.  The bill specifically seeks to eliminate last year’s $12 billion increase in Cat Fund coverage. 

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Read More Florida House Committee Passes Legislation to Expand Private Reinsurance Market

After serving almost 24 years as North Carolina’s Commissioner of Insurance, Jim Long has announced his retirement.  Long, elected in 1984, is known for setting North Carolina’s low auto insurance rates and creating the Seniors’ Health Insurance Information Program (“SHIIP”). 

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Read More North Carolina Insurance Commissioner to Retire

As we previously reported here, Leonard Crouse, long time Vermont Deputy Commissioner of the Captive Insurance Division (the “Division”), is set to retire from his post on June 1, 2008.  On February 29, 2008, the Vermont Department of Banking, Insurance, Securities and Health Care Administration issued a press release announcing that David F. Provost, assistant chief examiner in the Division, will succeed Crouse as the Division’s Deputy Commissioner. …

Read More David Provost Named Deputy Commissioner of Vermont Captive Insurance Division

On February 29, 2008, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, dismissed claims by funds managed by Ritchie Capital against Coventry First and all other defendants for civil violations of the federal RICO statutes. 

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Read More Ritchie Capital RICO claims against Coventry First Dismissed

The U.S. Attorney’s office has decided not to intervene, at this time, in United States of America, ex rel. Rigsby v. State Farm Ins. Co., a Katrina-related whistleblower lawsuit filed in federal court in Mississippi. …
Read More U.S. Government Chooses Not to Intervene in Hurricane Katrina Whistleblower Lawsuit but Reserves its Rights to Intervene at a Later Date