On Saturday, March 29th, 2014, the Emerging Accounting Issues Working Group & Statutory Account Principles Working Group held a meeting to adopt certain standards and to expose other proposals for comments. The sole topic of substantial debate surrounded moving forward with the Accounting for the Risk Sharing Provisions of the Affordable Care Act (the “Act”). …
Read More Live Blog: Emerging Accounting Issues Working Group & Statutory Accounting Principles Working Group Meeting

Speakers at the Spring NAIC Meeting in Orlando on the topic of insuring cyber liability risk offered commentary on risks and damages associated with cyber attacks in the United States, as well as how the insurance market has (and has not) developed to help mitigate risk. Representatives included district attorneys, practicing intellectual property lawyers, federal agents as well as state regulators. …
Read More Live Blog: CIPR Spring Event: Insuring Cyber Liability Risk (NAIC Spring Meetings)

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) held a Cybersecurity Roundtable discussion in Washington, DC Wednesday, March 26, 2014, at which representatives from the government and private sector, including publicly held corporations, market exchanges, investment advisors, and the insurance industry, discussed cybersecurity risks and the role the government, and specifically the SEC, could play in mitigating those risks. …
Read More SEC Holds Cybersecurity Roundtable

On March 25, 2014, Delaware’s House of Representatives passed HB 104 “An Act To Amend Title 18 Of The Delaware Code Relating To Certificates Of Insurance” by a vote of 38 to 0. The bill, which passed in the Senate on March 19th by a vote of 18 to 0, is on its way to the governor for consideration. …
Read More Delaware Bill Cracks Down on Fraudulent Certificates of Insurance

We cordially invite you to join insurance industry attendees to the AIRROC Boston Regional Education Day on April 9th. The full day program and post-session reception will be held in the offices of Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP, 111 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA. …
Read More Please Join Us – AIRROC Boston Regional Education Day – April 9, 2014

The Association of British Insurers (ABI) has published guidance on the significance and potential implications of the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) remit to promote effective competition and, from April 2015, enforce competition law under the Competition Act 1998. The guidance gives comments and recommendations to both the FCA and the insurance industry on the new regulatory objectives of the FCA and how these can be best achieved. …
Read More UK: The Association of British Insurers Publishes Recommendations for the Financial Conduct Authority on its Competition Remit

On February 17, 2014, the NAIC Principle-Based Reserving Implementation (EX) Task Force opened for comment a report by Rector & Associates, Inc. (the “Rector Report”) regarding reserve financing transactions. …
Read More Rector Report has NAIC Moving Forward on PBR

As previously discussed in our Insurance and Reinsurance Blog (the relevant post can be found here), the United States District Court for the District of Columbia recently ruled that the excise tax imposed on the foreign insurance/reinsurance of U.S. risks by Section 4371 of the Internal Revenue Code does not apply to retrocessions. Validus, a Bermuda reinsurer, filed the refund suit in this case with respect to excise taxes it had paid on nine retrocession policies. …
Read More Validus District Court Decision: Retrocessions Not Taxable as Reinsurance Under Section 4371 of the Code

President Barack Obama announced a new round of sanctions against Russian officials and influential individuals on March 20, 2014. According to the President, this new round of sanctions targets “individuals with substantial resources and influence who provide material support to the Russian leadership, as well as a bank that provides material support to these individuals.” …
Read More U.S. Sanctions Levied Against an Additional 20 Russian Individuals and One Russian Bank

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published yesterday, the results of its market study into general insurance ‘add-on’ products. Add-ons are sold alongside or on the back of ‘primary products’ such as travel insurance sold with a flight, or mobile phone insurance sold with a mobile phone. …
Read More UK: Financial Conduct Authority Finds Insurance ‘Add-On’ Market Is Not Competitive