As we reported on here, in Stoneridge Investment Partners, LLC v.Scientific-Atlanta, Inc., the U.S. Supreme Court recently declined to permit investor suits against third parties who engaged in deceptive acts that contributed to another party’s securities  fraud, where the third parties had no duty to disclose their acts to the public, and where their deceptive acts were in fact not communicated to the public. …
Read More Further Analysis: Supreme Court Limits Securities Fraud Liability of Third Parties

On January 7, 2007, Connecticut Commissioner of Insurance, Thomas R. Sullivan, issued Bulletin PC-03 (the “Bulletin”), announcing a one-year pilot program under which certain lines of commercial insurance will be exempt from state rate and form filing requirements. …
Read More Connecticut Bulletin Exempts Certain Commercial Lines from Filing Requirements

The Bermuda Monetary Authority has appointed, with immediate effect, the current supervisor of insurance, Jeremy Cox, as deputy to CEO, Matthew Elderfield. The BMA is the body responsible for, among other things, regulating and supervising financial institutions in Bermuda, including those conducting deposit-taking, insurance, investment and trust business in Bermuda. 

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Read More Cox Appointed as Deputy CEO at the BMA

In The Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs v Weald Leasing Ltd [2008] EWHC 30 (Ch), the High Court dismissed an appeal by the Commissioners against a ruling by a VAT and duties tribunal that a scheme deferring irrecoverable VAT using artificial leases was not contrary to the purpose of the Value Added Tax Act 1994 (or Directive 77/388 which the Act implemented) and therefore not abusive. Weald Leasing Ltd was a member of the Churchill group of companies carrying on insurance business but was not a member of their VAT group. …
Read More A Scheme Deferring Irrecoverable Value Added Tax by the Churchill Group of Companies is Upheld by the English High Court

The British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) has recently published its first Manifesto, setting out a number of campaigning issues for the next twelve months. The Manifesto highlights regulation, professional advice, criteria on age, flooding and motor insurance as areas that are important to insurance brokers and their customers going forward into 2008. 

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Read More UK: British Insurance Brokers Association Publishes 2008 Manifesto

In its December 4, 2007 decision in Smith v. Allstate Indemnity Co., the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals held that Allstate did not act in bad faith when it denied coverage for damage to Norris Edwards Smith’s home caused by storm surge during Hurricane Katrina. …
Read More Victory for Allstate in the Appeal of Smith v. Allstate

Following the CCSC’ s and the FSA’s latest discussions regarding the continued good progress being made by the market in achieving contract certainty, the CCSC has written to the CEOs of all UK Insurance Industry firms confirming the FSA’s agreement on certain issues. 

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Read More UK: Contract Certainty Reforms: FSA Confirms No Further Contract Certainty Figures Required and the Contract Certainty Steering Committee (CCSC) May be Disbanded

On January 16, 2008, at the end of a two-month trial, a federal jury in the United States District Court for the District of Arizona found that Apollo Group, Inc. (“Apollo”) and two former Apollo executives violated federal securities laws by fraudulently misleading its investors about its recruitment policies. …
Read More $280 Million Securities Class Action Verdict Against Apollo Group

The much awaited European Commission’s (EC) final report into business insurance was published in September 2007 (click here for a link to the December 20, 2007 blog entry on the EAPD workshop into the competition inquiry).  The report urged the market to review its practices and recent statements by EC officials (speaking in a personal capacity at a web-seminar) suggested that the subscription market had months rather than years to carry out reviews and amend its current practices to avoid enforcement action. 

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Read More EU/UK: European Commission: Competition in Business Insurance Inquiry: Responses Prepared by Insurance Bodies