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The FSA issued a statement on 15 January 2009, in response to the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report into the regulation of Equitable Life. In this statement, the FSA accepted the report’s findings that appropriate standards of administration and regulation were not achieved, and therefore accepted the Ombudsman’s recommendation that individual policyholders that were affected by the maldministration should be compensated by the Government. The FSA apologised for its failings in the statement. 

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Read More UK: Government and FSA Responds to Ombudsman’s Enquiry into Equitable Life

Birmingham City Council v Rose Forde [2009] EWHC 12 (QB) concerned an appeal arising from the judgment of a Costs Judge regarding two conditional fee agreements used to fund litigation between Birmingham City Council (the Council) and Rose Forde, a Council tenant. 

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Read More UK: High Court Suggests That a Retrospective Success Fee in a Retrospective Conditional Fee Agreement May Not be Contrary to Public Policy

On January 23, 2009, Intel Corp. filed suit against American Guarantee and Liability Insurance Company (“AGLI”), in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging that AGLI  owes a duty to defend Intel in its antitrust litigation with Advanced Micro Devices Inc. (“AMD”). …
Read More Intel Commences Action Against Its Insurer for Coverage of Antitrust Litigation Under “Advertising Liability” Provision of Policy

On January 16, 2009, American Equity Investment Life Holding Company (“American Equity”) issued a press release announcing that it, together with a coalition of insurance companies and independent marketing organizations, filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit seeking to overturn Rule 151A adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). …
Read More Suit Filed to Overturn SEC Rule Classifying Indexed Annuities as Securities

On December 29, 2008, the New York Insurance Department’s (“NYID”) Office of General Counsel (“OGC”) issued an opinion setting forth its position with respect to NYID Circular Letter No. 27 (2008) (the “Circular Letter”) that addressed the issue of whether same-sex marriages from jurisdictions outside of New York are covered under group long-term disability, group short-term disability and group term life insurance issued in New York.  We previously reported here on the Circular Letter. …
Read More New York Insurance Department: Legally Married Same-Sex Couples Should be Recognized with Respect to Certain Types of Health and Term Life Insurance Issued Under New York Law

The Chairman of the FSA, Lord Adair Turner, gave a speech on 21 January 2009 setting out his views of  the causes of the current financial crisis and outlining the future of financial regulation. Although the speech was about banking regulation, the key areas of future regulatory focus – capital adequacy and liquidity – are likely also to be applied to insurers. …
Read More UK: FSA Chairman Outlines Future of Financial Regulation

Florida’s largest private homeowners insurer, State Farm Florida, today informed the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) that it will stop selling homeowners and other property-related insurance policies in the state.  The company’s withdrawal affects approximately 1.2 million customers who currently have State Farm Florida homeowners, renters, condominium unit owners, personal liability, boats, and/or personal articles insurance.  It does not, however, affect State Farm Florida’s 2.8 million automobile insurance customers. …
Read More State Farm — Florida’s Largest Provider of Homeowners and Property Related Insurance — Is Withdrawing from the Market

The Connecticut Insurance Department issued an Order for Default Judgment (the “Order”) and a $5.9 million fine against a marketer of hole-in-one golf contests for engaging in the business of insurance without a license, falsely representing that it is authorized to engage in the business of insurance, and engaging in various unfair insurance practices. …
Read More Hole-in-One Golf Marketer Fined $5.9 Million for Operating an Insurance Company Illegally

On January 21, 2009, John P. Dearie, Jr. and M. Machua Millett of Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge LLP’s insurance and reinsurance department presented a webinar on recent developments in the Latin American (re)insurance markets.  The webinar and the supporting whitepaper are now available free online. …
Read More Free Latin America Webinar And Whitepaper Now Available Online

As expected, reports indicate that the people have Bolivia have approved the new constitution proposed by President Evo Morales, though by a smaller margin than some had expected.  The new constitution is designed to provide the nation’s indigenous populations a greater role in the country’s political and economic systems by giving the central government greater involvement in the economy, particularly in the areas of natural resources and distribution of land and wealth. 

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Read More Bolivia Approves New Constitution, Increasing Nationalization Concerns