Mealey's Reinsurance
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May 16, 2023
Consent Judgment Entered Against Brazilian Reinsurer In Suit Over 2020 False Claim
NEW YORK — Days after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed an enforcement action against a Brazilian reinsurance company over a false 2020 claim of substantial investment by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., a New York federal judge has entered a consent judgment containing a permanent injunction but no monetary penalty.
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May 15, 2023
Panel: Insolvent Insurer’s Reinsurer Can’t Claim Attorney Fees As General Creditor
CHICAGO — An Illinois appellate court affirmed a lower court’s determination that an insolvent insurer’s reinsurer seeking payment of a judgment for unpaid premiums, attorney fees and arbitration interest had a claim of a general creditor, rather than one for costs and expenses of administration, finding that based on statutory language and case law, the trial court correctly determined the reinsurer’s priority level.
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May 15, 2023
Parties Propose Trial Dates On Remaining Claims In Reinsurance Billings Suit
LOS ANGELES — In a May 12 joint statement in California federal court, parties in a reinsurance billings suit involving dozens of claims outline the remaining claims and disputes to be tried, estimating that a jury trial will take 10 days.
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May 15, 2023
$185.2M Judgment Entered For Plans In ACA Reinsurance Row; 9 Similar Cases Refiled
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Noting that the government’s earlier objection was withdrawn, a U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge on May 12 entered partial judgment under which the government will pay a class of 357 self-insured, self-administered employee health and welfare benefit plans (SISAs) a combined $185,230,024.42 in a suit over the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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May 11, 2023
Parties Outline Discovery Dispute In Suit Against Reinsurer Over Settlement
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Parties in a breach suit involving an environmental losses settlement have outlined a discovery dispute for a New York federal magistrate judge, with insurers filing a May 10 letter responding to arguments a reinsurer made regarding allocation modeling documents and records of its key case committee.
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May 11, 2023
Reinsurer’s Direct Benefits Estoppel Argument Is Rejected Again In Texas Appeal
TYLER, Texas — Deciding as it did last year in “an almost identical” appeal filed by the same reinsurer, a Texas appellate panel on May 10 upheld a ruling that the reinsurer did not establish that direct benefits estoppel applies and, therefore, did not show that an arbitration provision in the reinsurance contract is enforceable against the insured.
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May 11, 2023
SEC Files Enforcement Action Against Brazilian Reinsurer Over Alleged 2020 Fraud
NEW YORK — After filing an enforcement action against a former senior executive of a Brazilian reinsurance company over a false 2020 claim of substantial investment by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a similar action in New York federal court against the reinsurer.
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May 11, 2023
On Settlement Report, Judge Orders Dismissal Of Duties Spat Over Reinsurance Trust
RICHMOND, Va. — Saying she was advised that the lawsuit concerning a reinsurance trust for an insolvent insurer “has been settled,” a South Carolina federal judge ordered dismissal of the case, which was on remand from the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.
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May 10, 2023
Pretrial Attachment Of Assets Granted In Suit Over Tax-Sharing Agreement
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina federal judge on May 9 granted an emergency motion by plaintiffs in a dispute over a tax-sharing agreement (TSA) for pretrial attachment of the defendant’s assets.
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May 09, 2023
Citing Liquidation Order, Reinsurer Seeks Stay Of Claims In Liabilities Row
OMAHA, Neb. — Arguing that two abstention doctrines apply because of Pennsylvania liquidation proceedings, a reinsurer moved in Nebraska federal court to stay claims against it in a suit over the $157.2 million settlement National Indemnity Co. (NICO) reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures.
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May 05, 2023
Receiver Who Sought Rehab Has Concluded That Reinsurer Should Be Liquidated Instead
WILMINGTON, Del. — The receiver for Scottish Re (U.S.) Inc. in Rehabilitation (SRUS) has concluded that SRUS should be liquidated instead of rehabilitated, saying in a letter to the Delaware Court of Chancery that he intends to move for an order of liquidation in about 45 days.
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May 04, 2023
Jurisdictional Questions Posed In 11th Circuit Appeal Of Arbitration Order
ATLANTA — Reinsurers and retrocessionaires are challenging a decision ordering arbitration in their litigation over an alleged $28 million in damages to an Algerian power plant, and the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has posed two questions, saying it might “lack jurisdiction over this appeal.”
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May 03, 2023
Plaintiffs Update Bid For Third-Party Complaint Against Reinsurers In Crash Case
MIAMI — The day after updating their proposal for adding claims against reinsurers in a plane crash case in which settlements were reached over an $844 million default judgment, plaintiffs filed a notice in Florida court that the hearing on their motion was canceled.
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May 02, 2023
Dismissal, Transfer Bids Disputed In Reinsurer’s Suit Over Alleged Breaches
SAN FRANCISCO — Arguing issues including which state’s law applies to certain claims, a reinsurer has opposed transfer and dismissal bids by defendants in its case in California federal court alleging a fraudulent scheme to inflate provisional commissions and breach of various agreements.
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May 02, 2023
Hostile/Warlike Action Exclusion Does Not Bar Coverage For Cyberattack Losses
TRENTON, N.J. — A New Jersey appeals panel on May 1 held that insurers and reinsurers failed to demonstrate that a “Hostile/Warlike Action” policy exclusion applied to bar coverage for insureds’ losses arising from a June 2017 malware/cyberattack, affirming a lower court’s grant of summary judgment in favor of the insureds.
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May 01, 2023
Diocese Seeks Liquidation Of Insurer, Reinsurer, Cites ‘Looting’ By Management
WILMINGTON, Del. — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, N.Y., seeks a writ of mandamus from the Delaware Superior Court to compel the Delaware insurance commissioner to start liquidation proceedings against Arrowood Indemnity Co., asserting that the commissioner is aware of the insolvency and must start liquidation and remove the current management, which purportedly “has been intentionally looting the company.”
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May 01, 2023
Lloyd’s Subscribers Want Suit Over $44.9M In Losses From Afghan Facility Dismissed
NEW YORK — After some defendants said they want to seek dismissal of a lawsuit over whether the plaintiffs obtained insurance or reinsurance and whether any fraud or negligence was involved, a New York federal judge set a pre-motion conference for May 23.
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April 28, 2023
Parties Stipulate To Withdrawal Of Reinsurer’s Appeal Of Defense Costs Ruling
NEW YORK — An appeal to the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in a long-running dispute over defense costs for asbestos liabilities has been withdrawn by stipulation of the parties.
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April 27, 2023
Summary Judgment Ruling Splits Out Allocation Row In Reinsurance Dispute
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — In an April 26 opinion addressing just one claim in a complex breach of contract suit over reinsurance billings, an Alabama federal judge said the existence of factual disputes and absence of contractual terms governing how to proceed in such instances mean that the reinsurer should be denied summary judgment and the claim should go to trial.
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April 26, 2023
Insurer Dismisses Suit Seeking To Compel Arbitration Over Reinsurance Security
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Noting that the plaintiff filed a notice of voluntary dismissal without prejudice, a Connecticut federal judge on April 25 ordered closure of the suit that sought to compel arbitration over an alleged $22,738,571 deficiency in required security for reinsurance agreements.
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April 25, 2023
DOJ Enters Nonprosecution Agreement With Brazilian Reinsurer Over Alleged Scheme
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Brazilian reinsurance company IRB Brasil Resseguros S.A. (IRB) announced April 24 that they entered a nonprosecution agreement (NPA) under which IRB will pay $5 million to shareholders who sold stock on March 4, 2020, after a false claim that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had made a substantial investment in the company.
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April 25, 2023
Liquidators To Appeal Denial Of Bid To Enforce Stay As To N.C. Judgment
NEW YORK — In an April 24 notice of appeal, the joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) of Bermuda insurer and reinsurer PB Life and Annuity Co. Ltd. (PBLA) and other debtors said they are challenging a New York federal bankruptcy judge’s ruling that a North Carolina court’s judgment and related activities do not violate an automatic stay entered under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.
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April 24, 2023
3rd Circuit Rules Against Delaware Regulators In Case Over Microcaptive Info
PHILADELPHIA — Affirming a decision for the United States in a case that “pits Delaware’s authority to protect corporate privacy against the power of the IRS to enforce the tax laws of the United States,” a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel on April 21 ruled that a threshold requirement for application of reverse-preemption under the McCarran-Ferguson Act (MFA) was not met.
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April 24, 2023
Review Of 6th Circuit FAA Exclusive Remedy Rulings Over Crop Rows Sought
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of similar rulings, two farms say their cases “present several fundamental questions about the relationship between private agreements and the FAA [Federal Arbitration Act] . . . in the context of contractual language that is found in every federally sanctioned crop insurance policy.”
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April 24, 2023
After Settlement Report, Reinsurance Broker Dismisses ‘Coordinated Raid’ Cases
Reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter & Company LLC has voluntarily dismissed related suits in Texas and New York federal courts over what it had alleged was a “coordinated raid” that created “a mirror image business.”