On November 6, 2013, the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) released its 2013 Report on the Impact of Part II of the Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (NRRA). The purpose of the NRRA, which became effective on July 21, 2011, is to improve the uniformity of state regulation of reinsurance and surplus lines insurance.
Read More FIO Releases Report Regarding Impact of NRRA on Availability of Reinsurers’ Financial Information

By letter dated October 29, 2013, Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater inquired with the Florida Office of Insurance (“OIR”) as to why insurance rates have not been reduced for many Florida homeowners given that reinsurers have lowered their rates. Atwater requested a response to the inquiry by December 18, 2013. 
Read More Insurance Regulators Launch Investigation into Lack of Premium Reductions for Florida Homeowners Given Reduced Costs in the Reinsurance Market

This program will offer an overview of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). It will examine recent cases involving allegations that an insurer or its affiliate violated a fiduciary duty owed to an ERISA plan it serviced, with an emphasis on cases concerning “revenue sharing” with a mutual fund that the plan offers its participants. It is designed for in-house counsel, human resource managers and benefit specialists who focus on employee benefit matters.
Read More Please Join Us – ERISA Overview – Complimentary Seminar – October 2, 2013

In the case of Amlin Corporate Member Limited & Ors v Oriental Assurance Corporation [2013] EWHC 2380 (Comm), (we have previously reported on related proceedings here and here) the Claimant reinsurers sought a declaration that a warranty in the reinsurance contract had been breached by an insured vessel sailing despite a storm warning having been issued at the port of sailing and on part of the route. 
Read More London: Breach of Warranty Allowed Reinsurers to Avoid Reinsurance Contract

In a decision that has implications for reinsurance, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court last week decided that the Federal Arbitration Act preempts the Massachusetts Arbitration Act where the relevant contract involves interstate commerce. The decision is McInnes v. LPL Financial, LLC, et al., No. SJC-11356 (Aug. 12, 2013), and is available at the court’s website
Read More Massachusetts High Court Rules That Federal Arbitration Act Applies to Contracts Involving Interstate Commerce

Edwards Wildman Speaker: Robert W. DiUbaldo

12:00 PM – 1:15 PM (Central Time)

Please join us on August 28 from noon to 1:15 pm (Central) for this free webinar. Attorneys from Edwards Wildman Palmer LLP and Surdyk & Baker, engineers from St. John-Mittelhauser & Associates and underwriting and claims professionals from the Catlin Group will discuss the recently enacted Illinois Hydraulic Fracking Regulatory Act and its potential consequences, and will answer your questions. 
Read More COMPLIMENTARY WEBINAR – FRACKING the NEW ALBANY SHALE: Legal and Technical Issues Arising from the Passage of the Illinois Hydraulic Fracturing Regulatory Act (HFRA)

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 June 18, 2013, the U.S. Reinsurance Under 40’s Group will be having its 3rd Annual Bowling Extravaganza at Lucky Strike Lanes in New York City (624-660 W 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036 (42nd St & 12th Ave)! The event will take place between 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm, and is being sponsored by Transatlantic Reinsurance Company and JLT Re. 
Read More Please Join the US Reinsurance Under 40s Group on Tuesday, June 18 for its Annual Bowling Event

Other state insurance regulators have responded coolly to the report released by the New York Department of Financial Services on June 12. That report recommended that “State insurance commissioners should consider an immediate national moratorium on approving additional shadow transactions until those investigations are complete . . . .” 
Read More Delaware Rejects New York’s Call for a Moratorium on Securing Reserves with Captive Insurance Companies, While the NAIC Refuses to Act Hastily