Credit Suisse announced on December 15, 2009  that it is nearing a $536 million settlement with the New York County District Attorney’s office and the US Department of Justice, Federal Reserve Board, Federal Reserve Bank of New York and the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). 


Read More Credit Suisse to Settle Iran Sanctions Claims

During the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ (NAIC) winter meeting, the Restructuring Mechanisms for Troubled Companies (E) Subgroup adopted the “White Paper on Alternative Mechanisms for Troubled Companies” (the “White Paper”). 


Read More NAIC Subgroup Adopts White Paper on Alternative Mechanisms for Troubled Companies

The Law Commission has today published its draft Bill on Consumer Insurance Law: Pre-Contract Disclosure and Misrepresentation. It applies only to consumer insurance contracts, ie. contracts of insurance bought by individuals for purposes wholly or mainly unrelated to their trade, business or profession. It also only deals with the issue of what a consumer must tell an insurer before entering into or varying an insurance contract. 


Read More UK: Insurance Contract Law Reform – Draft Bill on Consumer Insurance Law: Pre-Contract Disclosure and Misrepresentation

On December 8, 2009, State Representative Bill Proctor filed HB 447, An Act Relating to Residential Property Insurance, in the Florida Legislature.  HB 447 would permit insurers to charge rates higher than those they have filed with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (FOIR) for residential property insurance that covers hurricane or windstorm risk, as long as the insurers comply with certain new requirements set forth in HB 447.

Read More Florida Legislator Seeks De-Regulation of Rates for Property Insurance that Covers Risk of Windstorm or Hurricane

As discussed here and here, the New York Insurance Department (the “Department”) has drafted a new regulation regarding the transparency of insurance producer compensation.  The proposed rule, Regulation 194, would require insurance producers to disclose to clients information about their compensation. 
Read More Proposed Insurance Producer Transparency Regulation is Published in the New York State Register; Prompts Insurance Industry Trade Group to Prepare for Suit Against Regulators

On December 2, 2009, the NAIC Valuation of Securities (E) Task Force adopted final assumptions (the Assumptions”) for the financial model used in determining risk based capital (“RBC”) for insurer owned residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”). 
Read More NAIC Valuation of Securities (E) Task Force Adopt Assumptions for Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities

On Saturday, December 5, 2009, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (“NAIC”) announced that U.S. insurance regulators entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with the Agencia Nacional de Saude Suplementar (ANS), Brazil’s Insurance regulator for Health Plans and Health Insurance, during the NAIC Winter Meeting. 


Read More NAIC Announces New Cooperation Agreement with Brazil

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) filed an amendment to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) (the “PPACA”) on December 1, 2009, that would repeal the exemption from federal antitrust laws for the health insurance and medical malpractice insurance industries. 


Read More Partial Repeal of the Insurance Antitrust Exemption Introduced as Amendment to Senate Healthcare Bill

The House Financial Services Committee passed a revised version of the Federal Insurance Office Act, H.R. 2609, earlier this week.  The bill will now head to the floor of the House of Representatives for a full House vote.  To win bipartisan support and pass unanimously, H.R. 2609 went through a transformation from the previously debated discussion draft, which we covered here
Read More House Committee Passes Legislation Creating Federal Insurance Office, But without Regulatory Power