On 9 February 2014, 50.3% of Swiss voters backed an initiative calling for quotas on immigrants from the EU. The initiative was proposed by the right wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and has caused considerable tension between Switzerland and Brussels. …
Read More Swiss Immigration EU Initiative Threatens to Jeopardise Access to Free Market

Earlier in 2014, Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced a series of tax reforms in his budget bill (the “Bill”) which is currently being addressed by the state legislature. …
Read More Potential New York Legislation to Introduce Tax Changes With Respect To Captive Insurers

Edwards Wildman’s Nick Pearson, partner, and Julie Mahaney, associate in the Insurance and Reinsurance Department discuss “Enterprise Risk Report for Certain New York Insurers Due April 30, 2014.”…
Read More Enterprise Risk Report For Certain New York Insurers Due April 30, 2014

On 30 January 2014, EIOPA published its report on good practices for comparison websites (here), in response to EIOPA’s consultation on this topic. The report is concerned primarily with the activities of commercial comparison websites, as opposed to non-commercial websites run by consumer and/or industry associations or public authorities. …
Read More EIOPA Publishes Good Practices for Comparison Websites

In late January 2014, Brazil applied for Solvency II equivalence for its insurance solvency regime. Its regulator, Superintendência de Seguros Privados (SUSEP), is currently negotiating an agreement with EIOPA in order to evaluate the extent to which Brazil’s insurance legislation complies with the upcoming Solvency II rules. …
Read More Brazil U-Turn on Solvency II Equivalence

In San Evans Maritime Inc & ors v Aigaion Insurance Co SA [2014] EWHC 163 (Comm), the Commercial Court was asked to determine three preliminary issues arising from a ‘follow’ clause in a contract of insurance. …
Read More UK: Commercial Court Considers Construction of ‘Follow’ Clause

Until recently, foreign insurers with head offices located in a ‘tax haven’ (broadly, countries that levy less than 20% income tax), were not permitted to register entities in Argentina. The Argentine Income Tax law contained a so-called ‘black list’ of jurisdictions the government considered a ‘tax haven’. …
Read More Argentina Changes Rules on the Registration of Entities with Head Offices in Black-Listed ‘Tax Havens’

In a 2-1 decision released on February 20, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit reversed the district court below and declared that the term “direct contributing properties” was unambiguous in the context of a policy that provided contingent business interruption coverage. Accordingly, the court found that the insured was not entitled to coverage when its production facility was knocked offline for several months following an explosion at a natural gas producer’s facility. …
Read More Fourth Circuit Declares “Direct Contributing Properties” Unambiguous In Context of CBI Coverage