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

Last week, we wrote about pending legislation in Massachusetts that would realign the state’s reinsurance regulations to make them more consistent with the increasingly global nature of insurance and reinsurance markets. …
Read More Massachusetts Legislative Committee Favorably Reports Reinsurance Credit Bill

Connecticut Insurance Commissioner Thomas Leonardi has voiced several concerns about the long overdue (2 years to be exact) Federal Insurance Office (FIO) report, “How to Modernize and Improve the System of Insurance Regulation in the United States” (the “FIO report”). …
Read More CT Commissioner Leonardi Speaks out About the FIO Report

The Massachusetts Appeals Court has upheld a lower-court judgment severely limiting the amount of coverage available to a motor vehicle policyholder, writing that the policyholder’s failure to control who operated the car constituted a misrepresentation that invalidated coverage even in the absence of an intent to deceive. …
Read More Massachusetts Appeals Court Finds That Policyholder’s Misrepresentations Limit Coverage

President Obama stepped up the diplomatic pressure on Russia by signing a new executive order titled “Blocking Property of Additional Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine” (the “Second Executive Order”). The Second Executive Order follows on the heels of a referendum in the autonomous region of Crimea on March 17, 2014, in which over 90% of the voting population of Crimea casted ballots in favor of seceding from Ukraine and joining Russia. …
Read More President Obama Issues Second Executive Order Regarding Crisis in the Ukraine; Targets Officials of the Government of the Russian Federation