D&O Liability

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The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently upheld an exclusion in a D&O policy barring coverage for suits against officers and directors arising out of the underwriting and sales of securities.  Leonard v. Executive Risk Indemnity, Inc., No. 07-1327 (8th Cir. Oct. 27, 2008). 

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Read More D&O Policy Exclusion Barring Coverage for Securities Suits is not Limited to Only the Insured’s Securities

According to reports, Goldman Sachs recently agreed to pay $100.5 million to policyholders of the now defunct General American Life Insurance to settle a pending lawsuit brought by General American in which it alleged that Goldman Sachs provided bad advice to the company.  Other defendants named in the suit previously settled with General American. …

Read More Goldman Sachs to Pay $100.5 million to Policyholders of General American Life Insurance

Advisen recently issued three reports, on the D&O market, E&O market and the financial services industry, containing predictions on the impact of the subprime/credit crisis on insurers worldwide.

With respect to D&O claims, Advisen predicts $5.9 billion in losses for claims during 2007, 2008, and 2009.  This amount

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Read More Industry Analyst Predicts Impact on D&O and E&O Insurers to Total $9.6 Billion

On October 7, 2008, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware granted the defendants’ motion to dismiss in In re Countrywide Financial Corporation Derivative Litigation, a consolidated shareholder derivative action alleging breach of fiduciary duty against certain of Countrywide’s directors and officers arising out of Countrywide’s involvement in the subprime lending crisis. 

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Read More Countrywide Derivative Action Dismissed on Standing Grounds

In a prior post (please click here), we advised that the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously held that individual participants in 401(k) retirement plans can sue plan fiduciaries to recover losses resulting from mishandling of their individual retirement accounts. …
Read More Individual Plan Participant Suits: Despite Victory in U.S. Supreme Court, LaRue Voluntarily Dismisses ERISA Action

In a recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, the court reversed a ruling against a D&O insurer in a coverage action arising from a bankruptcy case. 

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Read More Eighth Circuit: No Extrinsic Evidence Should Be Admitted to Qualify Unambiguous Exclusion

A federal judge recently denied motions by Credit Suisse First Boston Corp. (“Credit Suisse”) and other defendants to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Bankers Life Insurance Company (“Bankers Life”) over subprime-mortgage-backed bonds that Bankers Life purchased from Credit Suisse. 

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Read More Federal Judge Refuses to Dismiss Subprime Bond Purchaser Action Against Credit Suisse

In a recent, unpublished decision, in a case in which coverage was sought for a suit filed against the insured by a shareholder, the District Court of New Jersey held that that two causes of actions were covered, while the remaining two claims were excluded from coverage under the terms of the policy.  However, the court did not venture further into how to allocate, leaving it up to the parties to determine how best to allocate the defense costs in the ongoing litigation. 

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Read More Parties Ordered To Allocate Defense Costs Where Half Of Causes of Action Are Covered By D&O Policy

BP Corporation North America Inc. Savings Plan Investment Oversight Committee and BP Corporation North America Inc. Investment Committee (the “BP Plan Committees”), named fiduciaries of various BP employee pension and savings plans, recently brought suit against Northern Trust Investments, N.A. and The Northern Trust Company (“Northern Trust”).  The suit alleges that Northern Trust conducted excessive and inappropriately risky securities lending leading to substantial losses in the Plans’ accounts. …
Read More BP Employee Plan Committees File Lawsuit Over Securities Lending

As previously reported here, a PFBB Bancorp (“PFBB”) shareholder filed a derivative action against PFBB’s directors in the Delaware Chancery Court, New Castle County, on September 22, 2008 (a copy of the complaint can be found here). …
Read More Delaware Court Declines to Delay Merger Pending Finalization of the Terms of Government’s $700 Billion Bailout