Industry Developments

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Thomaz Menezes, president of Marsh Brazil and Latin America, reportedly recently commented that the broker expects insurance premium rates to rise in the Brazilian market in 2009 due to the global financial crisis and resulting rise in claims.  In particular, Menezes reportedly commented that Marsh expects director and officer liability premium rates to rise between 10% and 30% and premium rates for property and engineering insurance to rise approximately 10%. …
Read More Brazil: Market Expected to Harden in 2009

Los mercados latinoamericanos de seguro y reaseguro siguen creciendo para servir las economias dinamicas de la region y la creciente demanda consumidora.  Previamente cerrados a competicion extranjera en los areas de seguro y reaseguro, los paises latinoamericanos siguen liberalizando sus sistemas regulatorios para conformar con los requisitos de acuerdos de comercio libre con los Estados Unidos y Europa y para satisfacer a demandas nacionales para mejores productos y precios. 

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Read More Presentacion Electronica Gratis: Mercados (Re)emergentes: Sucesos Importantes en Los Mercados Latinoamericanos de Seguro y Reaseguro

This past year we’ve followed the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Hall Street Associates, L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc., No. 06-989 (U.S. Mar. 25, 2008), and whether courts have interpreted it as eliminating the doctrine of manifest disregard of the law, a judicially-created concept that provides parties with a basis for challenging an arbitration award beyond those grounds enumerated in the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). …
Read More Did Hall Street Eliminate Manifest Disregard of the Law as a Valid Basis for Vacating or Modifying Arbitration Awards? A 2008 Summary of Conflicting Decisions

Latin American countries are liberalizing their regulatory schemes to conform to the nations’ free trade agreements with Europe and the United States and to satisfy internal demands for better pricing and products.  With economic conditions continuing to deteriorate in many of the world’s largest economies, international companies are taking a closer look at Latin America as a potential alternative market for investment and operations. …
Read More Reminder: Free Webinar on January 21, 2009: (Re)emerging Mercados: Significant Recent Developments in the Latin American Insurance and Reinsurance Markets

Last month, Dianne Cornwall, Director of the Nevada Department of Business & Industry, announced that Scott Kipper would be appointed the new commissioner of the Nevada Division of Insurance.  Effective December 29, 2008, he replaced acting commissioner Betty Baker who has held the position since Alice Molasky-Arman’s retirement on September 7, 2008. …
Read More Scott Kipper Appointed New Nevada Insurance Commissioner

In a recent decision of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth  Circuit, Safety National Cas. Corp. v. Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, No. 06-30262 (5th Cir. Sept. 29, 2008), the court held that the McCarran-Ferguson Act (“McCarran-Ferguson”) does not cause a state law regulating the business of insurance to “reverse preempt” the provisions of a United States treaty. 

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Read More Fifth Circuit Rules New York Convention Not “Reverse Preempted” By Louisiana Statute

Qualitas, Mexico’s largest automobile insurer, has reportedly indicated that it is considering expanding its operations into Costa Rica and Panama.  The announcement comes on the heels of Qualitas’ entry into the insurance market in El Salvador at the beginning of December.  Referring to the more than year and a half it took for Qualitas to obtain authorization in El Salvador, company CFO Wilfrido Castillo reportedly commented that the company hopes authorization would come more quickly in Panama and Costa Rica. 

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Read More Costa Rica Roundup: Mexican Auto Insurer Expresses Interest in Market; Tourism Concerns and New Foreign Investment