In KAIROS SHIPPING LTD & STANDARD CLUB LTD V ENKA & CO LLC & ORS 2014 EWCA Civ 217, Karios sought a declaration that it was entitled to constitute a limitation fund
(a fund providing a maximum limit for its claims liability under the International Convention on Limitation of Liability for Maritime Claims 1976) by means of a guarantee in the form of a letter of undertaking provided by a protection and indemnity (P&I) club. …
Read More UK: Court Of Appeal Rules a Limitation Fund Can Be a Guarantee as an Alternative to a Payment Into Court

U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-Maine) has introduced a bill, S.2012, in an effort to clarify the application of Section 171 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) to insurance companies. Section 171 (codified at 12 U.S.C. 5371) requires insured depository institutions, depository institution holding companies, and nonbank financial companies to maintain certain capital levels on a consolidated basis (i.e., Basel III global capital standards). …
Read More Senate Bill Would Allow Federal Reserve to Exclude Insurers From Dodd-Frank Consolidated Capital Requirements

On 26 February 2014, a plenary session of the European Parliament voted on the proposals to revise the Insurance Mediation Directive (the revised Directive commonly referred to as IMD2). However, despite certain amendments being approved by the Parliament, a vote to approve the latest draft was deferred and the draft was referred back to the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs. …
Read More IMD2: Further Delays to Adoption

The Massachusetts Legislature’s Joint Committee on Financial Services is due to report next week on HB 881, An Act Relative to Reinsurance Requirements. Sponsored by Representative Michael Costello of Newburyport, the bill closely tracks the NAIC’s Revised Credit for Reinsurance Model Law, which has already been adopted in eighteen states, including New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire. …
Read More Massachusetts Legislative Committee Considers Reinsurance Credit Requirements

In a letter dated November 10, 2013 (the “Letter”) to the United States Senate Banking Committee (the “Committee”), the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) showed support for Committee members seeking to address the potential confusion regarding capital and leverage requirements for insurers regulated by the Federal Reserve due to being either considered (1) a thrift holding company, or (2) a systemically important financial institution as designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council. …
Read More Insurance Regulators Make a Plea to the United States Senate Banking Committee Regarding Capital Regulations for Insurers

EIOPA has published additional information on its General Good provisions which are intended to promote transparency for cross-border activity in accordance with Article 9 of the EIOPA Regulation. The provisions list some of the requirements that are to be observed by insurance undertakings and/or intermediaries that intend to carry on business in EU/EEA Member States, hence protecting the ‘general good’. …
Read More EIOPA Publishes Additional Information on National General Good Provisions

Storm Shutters

Pursuant to the Connecticut Insurance Code, “[n]o insurer that delivers, issues for delivery, renews, amends or endorses a homeowners insurance policy in this state shall refuse to renew or issue such a policy solely on the basis that the insured or prospective insured has failed to install permanent storm shutters on his or her residential dwelling as a means of mitigating loss from hurricanes or other severe storms.” …
Read More Connecticut Lawmakers Consider Bill that Would Mandate Coverage by Insurers for Homes that Lack Permanent Storm Shutters; Provides Authority for Private Insurers to Offer Flood Insurance Coverage

In Intervest Construction of Jax v. General Fidelity Ins. Co., the Florida Supreme Court considered insurance policy language that called for a self-insured retention to be exhausted by “payments made by the insured.” …
Read More The Florida Supreme Court Takes the “Self” Out of “Self-Insured Retention” and Rules that the Insured’s Self-Insured Retention Can Be Satisfied by Payment by Someone Other Than the Insured

Moving into its 7th year, the Insurance Contracts Project saw significant progress last month, signaling to the industry that the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) and the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) are serious about adhering to a timeline for change. …
Read More Developments in the FASB/IASB Insurance Contracts Project

On March 6, 2014, President Obama issued an Executive Order setting forth the foundation for imposing sanctions against any individual or entity responsible for or complicit in actions or policies that undermine democratic processes or institutions in Ukraine or threaten the peace, security, stability, sovereignty, or territorial integrity of Ukraine. …
Read More New Executive Order Regarding U.S. Sanctions against Certain Persons Contributing to the Situation in Ukraine