New York Developments

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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

New York’s highest court has reversed itself on an important duty to defend opinion. In K2 Inv. Group, et al. v. Am. Guar. & Liab. Ins. Co., (Feb. 18, 2014), available here, the Court of Appeals held that an insurer which breaches its duty to defend does not lose its right to rely on policy exclusions as a defense to indemnity. …
Read More New York’s Highest Court Holds that Breach of Duty to Defend does not Prevent Insurer from Relying on Policy Exclusions to Dispute Duty to Indemnify

The New York State Assembly recently passed a number of bills seeking to amend the state’s insurance laws. Most significantly, Assembly Bill 7455A seeks to amend New York insurance law by prohibiting insurers from using “anti-concurrent causation” clauses in homeowner and commercial insurance policies to preclude coverage for flood claims. …
Read More New York Assembly Passes Bill Prohibiting “Anti-Concurrent Causation” Clauses

Benjamin Lawsky, Superintendent of the New York Department of Financial Services (the “Department”), sent a letter [PDF] to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) last week criticizing the NAIC’s plan to move forward with implementing the principles based reserving approach (“PBR Approach”) for life insurers.
Read More New York Drops Principles Based Reserving Approach for Life Insurers

On Wednesday U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein dismissed on summary judgment a lawsuit by several companies associated with World Trade Center developer Larry Silverstein (the “WTC Developers”) which sought to recover funds from a $1.2 billion settlement between their insurers and several airlines and airport security companies (the “Aviation Defendants”).
Read More World Trade Center Developers Were Fully Compensated by $4.091 Billion in Insurance Proceeds, and Thus Cannot Recover Additional Funds from Insurers

The New York Department of Financial Services (the “NY DFS”) has released proposed amendments to Insurance Regulation 41 (11 NYCRR Part 27), which governs the standards for excess lines placements.
Read More New York Proposes Changes to Excess line Placements Governing Standards (Regulation 41)

New York’s highest court has agreed to rehear its June decision that held that a liability insurer found to have “breached its duty to defend…may not later rely on policy exclusions to escape its duty to indemnify the insured for a judgment against him.” …
Read More New York Highest Court to Reconsider Decision that Breach of Duty to Defend Precludes Later Reliance on Policy Exclusions

As previously reported here, the New York Department of Financial Services (“DFS”) began a string of investigations last month into possible violations by non-U.S. reinsurers of U.S. sanctions against Iran as set forth in the Iran Freedom and Counter-Proliferation Act of 2012 (the “IFCPA”) that became effective on July 1, 2013. …
Read More New York Widens its Probe into Possible Iran-Related Transactions by Accredited Reinsurers

On July 18th, federal U.S. District Court Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled against Silverstein Properties Inc. (“Silverstein”) in its quest to recover damages from American Airlines and United Airlines as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. …
Read More District Court Rules Silverstein Unable to Collect From Airlines for 9/11 Attacks