Industry Developments

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On July 9, 2013, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) announced that it has named American International Group, Inc. (AIG) and General Electric Capital Corporation, Inc. (GE) as systemically significant to the U.S. financial system. This designation (also known as SIFI or “systemically important financial institution”) triggers supervision by the Federal Reserve Board and requires that the named company follow enhanced regulatory standards. …
Read More FSOC Designates AIG and GE Capital as SIFIs

Four members of our Insurance and Reinsurance Department recently conducted a webinar in which they addressed potential claims arising from the Boston Marathon bombings as well as possible insurance implications related to those claims. They discussed a variety of issues, focusing on who will likely bear financial responsibility for the resulting losses and the availability of insurance coverage for both the victims injured by the blast and the scores of businesses impacted by the bombings. …
Read More Webinar Replay – Potential Claim and Insurance Implications of the Boston Marathon Bombings

Recently, New York-based insurance broker DeWitt Stern announced that it will offer a new insurance product designed to protect businesses that would suffer loss of revenue due to the cancellation or relocation of Super Bowl XLVII, which is scheduled to take place on February 2, 2014 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. …
Read More Major Disasters in Northeast and Beyond Spur New Super Bowl Insurance Product

The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) announced that it has appointed Craig Swan, formerly the BMA’s Director, Insurance Supervision, to the newly created post Managing Director, Supervision. Mr. Swan will lead all of the BMA’s regulatory functions. The Director, Banking, Trust, Corporate Services and Investment and Director, Insurance Supervision will each report to Mr. Swan.
Read More Swan Appointed Managing Director, Supervision by BMA

In the recent case of Alliance of Nonprofits for Ins. v. Scott J. Kipper, et al., the Ninth Circuit determined that the Liability Risk Retention Act of 1986 (“LRRA”) preempted an order issued in 2010 by the Nevada Insurance Commissioner barring the Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance Risk Retention Group (the “Alliance”) from issuing first dollar automobile insurance policies (the “Order”). The LRRA is a federal law which authorizes risk retention groups (“RRG”) to provide liability insurance coverage. …
Read More Foreign Risk Retention Groups Permitted to Issue Automobile Liability Insurance in Nevada to Satisfy Statutory Minimum Coverage Requirements

The Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) of the U.S. Department of the Treasury recently launched a new version of SDN Search, the search tool for searching its Specially Designated Nationals (“SDN”) and blocked persons list. According to OFAC, the new version of SDN Search provides users with much more leeway when searching for names. For example, SDN Search no longer returns only exact matches. …
Read More New Search Tool Available for Checking the Names of Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons Subject to U.S. Sanctions

The U.S. Reinsurance Under 40s Group will be hosting its first social event of the year this Wednesday, January 30th, at Three Sheets Saloon, which is located on 134 West 3rd Street (between 6th Avenue and MacDougal St.). The event will kick-off at 5:30 pm, and include various drink specials until closing. …
Read More Please Join the U.S. Reinsurance Under 40s Group for its First Social Event of 2013

The New Year seems to be starting with a bang for the ILS industry. On January 23rd, KKR announced it had taken a 24.9% stake in Nephila. Earlier in the month Validus reported a $400 million capital raise to fund investments in collateralized reinsurance and ILS. In a transaction on which Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP advised Transatlantic Re, Transatlantic Re in December acquired a minority interest in Pillar Capital Management and announced a strategic partnership with Pillar, a manager of funds investing in collateralized reinsurance and ILS. …
Read More Will 2013 be the year of ILS?

In a press release issued on January 22, 2013, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) announced that former Nebraska Senator Bill Nelson has been named as CEO of the NAIC. In his new position, Nelson will be the primary advocate and chief spokesperson for the NAIC in Washington, D.C. …
Read More Ex-Senator Ben Nelson Has Been Named CEO of the NAIC