Andy Tobin was named the interim superintendent of the Arizona Department of Financial Institutions by Governor Doug Ducey. He replaces Superintendent Lauren Kingry, following his resignation. Mr. Tobin is also the Director of the Arizona Insurance Department, a position he will continue to serve in. Mr. Tobin previously served in…

Read More Arizona Governor Names Interim Superintendent of Financial Institutions

On December 9, in Dorrance v. The United States, the Ninth Circuit overturned a favorable district court decision for taxpayers in demutualizations. The Ninth Circuit ruled that a taxpayer owning insurance policies in a mutual insurance company had a zero tax basis in the attendant membership rights which accompanied…

Read More Ninth Circuit Overturns Taxpayer-Friendly Decision in Demutualizations

A Wisconsin appellate court recently addressed the applicability of a Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) exclusion to claims of conversion and which policies are triggered in a TCPA class action. First, the court held the TCPA exclusion barred coverage and that the insurer had no duty to defend. The court…
Read More Wisconsin Appellate Court: A Single Policy is Triggered and its TCPA Exclusion Applies, Per the Allegations of the Class-Action Complaint

On December 4, 2015, President Obama signed the Highway Bill, dubbed Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act (“FAST Act”), into law. Buried in the 490 page transportation law is a significant amendment to the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act’s (“GLBA”) annual consumer privacy notice requirement. Specifically, section 75001 of the FAST Act, entitled “Eliminate…

Read More GLBA Annual Privacy Notice Eliminated under Certain Circumstances: Buried in a Highway Bill!

On December 4, 2015, the Connecticut Insurance Department (the “CID”) issued Bulletin PC-81 banning the practice of price optimization, a pricing method whereby insurers use factors not specifically related to an insured’s expected losses and expenses in pricing coverage. Bulletin PC-81, which was issued to all insurers licensed to write…

Read More Connecticut Bans Price Optimization

During the last few years, many states have undertaken aggressive efforts to collect sales tax on amounts paid for service contracts a/k/a extended warranties, which in most states are deemed not to be insurance products. A recent example of this effort is the South Carolina Administrative Law Court’s decision in…
Read More SC Court Says Sales Tax Inapplicable to Cellphone Insurance Premiums

In light of the reauthorization of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act (“TRIA”) earlier this year, a growing focus within the industry has been on the collection of data on terrorism risk exposure from insurers to help assess company solvency and market trends in light of particular changes to TRIA. As…
Read More TRIA Data Call In Development for 2016

After 24 years of service with the Texas Department of Insurance (TDI), General Counsel Sara Wait will be retiring in December 2015. Wait has had a distinguished career at TDI after starting as a law clerk in TDI’s liquidation division and serving two stints at a private law firm.

On…
Read More More Senior Staff Changes at the Texas Department of Insurance

The Excess Line Association of New York (ELANY) has hired James Davis as financial director. Davis is responsible for the financial review and analysis of all eligible listed excess line insurers to verify their financial strength.

Davis recently retired from the New York State Department of Financial Services (“the Department”)…

Read More ELANY Hires Former New York Regulator as Financial Director

Last week, the Department of Financial Services of the State of New York (“DFS”) issued a letter available here, indicating its intention to promulgate cybersecurity regulations that will apply to financial institutions licensed by DFS, including insurance companies, banks, and mortgage brokers. The proposed regulations will be intended to…
Read More Expect New Cybersecurity Regs from New York DFS