As there will be a team of us from Mayer Brown attending this year’s forthcoming Rendez-Vous in Monte-Carlo, comprising lawyers from some of our offices in the US, UK and Germany, we have put together this Bulletin as a special edition for the Rendez-Vous.
It may have been thought safe to assume that cover under a facultative contract of reinsurance, incorporating the terms of the underlying insurance contract, and cover under the insurance contract, will be back to back, even if the laws by which they are governed differ. The long awaited decision of the House of Lords in Wasa v. Lexington clarifies the limits to when this assumption may be relied upon.
HM Treasury’s “Vision for the UK insurance industry in 2020” On 27 July 2009, the Insurance Industry Working Group (“IIWG”) published a well publicised report providing its views and recommendations on how the medium to long-term challenges and opportunities facing the insurance sector should be met.
12 June 2009 - Mayer Brown LLP, a leading global law firm, announced today that 124 of its attorneys are ranked in the 2009 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, including 32 who achieved top-band ranking or higher in 26 national and/or state categories.
Catastrophes occurring in 2008 caused $26 billion in direct insured losses to property. Catastrophe risk is typically spread through direct insurance coverage provided by primary insurers and then through reinsurance provided by global reinsurers and insurance-linked securities (cat bonds) to investors.
Legislation has been introduced in the US House of Representatives that would create an optional federal charter for insurance companies, insurance agencies, and insurance producers. The National Insurance Consumer Protection Act (NICPA) would create an Office of National Insurance that would be headed by the National Insurance Commissioner.
8 May 2009 - Leading international law firm Mayer Brown continues to strengthen its Insurance and Reinsurance Group and in London has named Karen Abbott as the new group head.
On 23 February 2009, the FSA published Consultation Paper 09/09 “With-profit funds – compensation and redress”. This refines and develops the FSA’s thinking in CP08/11. CP09/09 sets out the FSA’s proposals regarding compensation and redress payments arising from operational failures including mis-selling that life insurance companies may currently charge to their with-profits funds.
9 March 2009 – Mayer Brown, a leading global law firm, announced today that Brian J. O’Sullivan and Nancy K. Eisner have joined its New York office as partner and counsel, respectively, in the Insurance & Reinsurance Industry Group. They join two other recent additions to the practice, Clifford Schoenberg and Ken Pierce, who co-head the Insurance & Reinsurance Industry Group in the United States.
There have been a number of announcements recently by (re)insurers of their intention to raise cash by way of a rights issue. As credit conditions worsen, it is likely that further announcements will be made by (re)insurers seeking to raise funds in order to bolster their capital and/or maintain their current ratings levels.
26 January 2009 - Mayer Brown, a leading global law firm, announced today that Clifford H. Schoenberg and Kenneth R. Pierce have joined its New York office as co-heads of the firm’s Insurance & Reinsurance Industry Group in the United States. They also will serve as senior members of the firm’s Global Insurance & Reinsurance Industry Group, comprising more than 100 lawyers.
On 16 December 2008, the FSA published a feedback statement on “Transparency, disclosure and conflicts of interest in the commercial insurance market”.
December 2008 - Analysis Review into insurance comparison websites It is fair to say that insurance comparison websites have grown significantly as a distribution channel of personal lines insurance over the past couple of years. For example, in 2007, almost 25% of all private motor insurance was sold through an aggregator site.
12 November 2008 - The FSA’s Chairman, Lord Turner, has warned that, in the wake of the financial crisis, the days of “soft-touch” regulation are over. Lord Turner has also said that there will be increased supervision of “high-impact, systemically important firms”.
24 September 2008 - In a major departure from prior precedent, New York Governor David A. Paterson announced on September 22, 2008, that the New York State Insurance Department (the “Department”) would start regulating certain types of credit default swaps (CDSs) as insurance.
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