Expert Guides - Insurance and Reinsurance

Absence of Malice: The United States Grapples with the Proper Standards for Imposing Bad Faith Liability in Insurance Cases

Since the late 1960s and early 1970s, the United States has seen the growth of direct actions against insurance companies in what have colloquially been termed “Bad Faith” actions

04/09/2017 Stephen P Pate, Cozen O'Connor, US Valerie Rojas, Cozen O'Connor, US

Shifting Climate Change Risks Will Force Insurers To Adapt

Whether naturally occurring or caused by human activity, it is now generally accepted that the Earth is warming

04/09/2017 Dominic T Clarke, Blaney McMurtry, Canada Zack Garcia, Blaney McMurtry, Canada

The Family Exclusion Clause: The Search for Ambiguity

The family exclusion clause is a universal feature in personal liability insurance policies, apart from automobile liability insurance

04/09/2017 Harmon C Hayden, Fulton and Company, Canada

The enforcement of arbitration agreements in Bermuda-market insurance policies

Most insurance and reinsurance policies issued by Bermuda-based insurance companies contain arbitration agreements, which provide for any and all disputes between policyholder and insurer to be resolved through an arbitration to be conducted in Bermuda (subject to the supervision of the Supreme...

04/09/2017 Alex J Potts, Sedgwick Chudleigh, Bermuda

The Impact of Brexit on Insurance and Reinsurance

As matters currently stand, the United Kingdom will cease to be a member of the European Union on 29 March 2019

04/09/2017 David Kendall, Cooley, United Kingdom

Reinsurance, set-off rights and insolvency under Spanish law

A usual query that arises in Spain in almost any single reinsurance transaction or contract where some money is advanced or handed over between the parties is whether it is possible to set-off mutual debts within an insolvency proceedings

04/09/2017 Luis Alfonso Fernández Manzano, Hogan Lovells, Spain Virginia Martínez, Hogan Lovells, Spain

Who’s who insurance: Liberalizing foreign ownership of insurers in Asia

Members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) have implemented the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC), which is intended to remove or reduce barriers and restrictions between member states to allow for the development of a single market of approximately 625 mln people

04/09/2017 Alan Polivnick, Watson Farley & Williams, Thailand

Next generation genome technology – will insurers get the sequence?

Since the completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003, advances in gene technology have exploded

04/09/2017 Louise Cantrill, Mills Oakley, Australia

The changing landscape of reinsurance in South Africa

Amongst a raft of proposed legislative and regulatory changes impacting the financial services industry in South Africa, the Financial Services Board ("FSB"), the authority that regulates, inter alia, the activities of insurers and reinsurers in South Africa, has proposed a number of changes to the...

25/08/2016 Ernie van der Vyver, Clyde & Co US, South Africa

Will The American Law Institute’s Forthcoming “Restatement of the Law of Liability Insurance” Codify U.S. Insurance Law?

The American Law Institute (“ALI”) is a leading independent organization in the United States “producing scholarly work to clarify, modernize and otherwise improve the law.”

25/08/2016 Laura Foggan, Crowell & Moring, US

In re Deepwater Horizon: A Year and a Half Later

When the Supreme Court of Texas delivered its opinion in In re Deepwater Horizon on February 13, 2015, commentators across the country pondered the impact of the opinion in the insurance industry

25/08/2016 Stephen P Pate, Cozen O'Connor, US

Canadian Appellate Court Holds that Reinsureds Must Establish Legal Liability in the Absence of a Follow Settlements Clause

In Swiss Reinsurance Company v. Camarin Limited, the British Columbia Court of Appeal clarified the test for proving liability under a reinsurance contract absent a follow the settlements clause

25/08/2016 Dominic T Clarke, Blaney McMurtry, Canada Avi Sharabi, Blaney McMurtry, Canada

Hostile takeover litigation involving the Bermuda insurance and reinsurance market

There has been an increasing amount of M&A transaction activity in the Bermuda re/insurance market in recent years

25/08/2016 Alex J Potts, Sedgwick Chudleigh, Bermuda

The Insurance Act 2015: The increased disclosure burden imposed on insureds

Much has been written about the implementation of the Insurance Act 2015 (“the Act”) which came into effect on 12th August 2016, in particular with regard to the possible increased liabilities of insurers by the introduction of the proportionate remedies regime and the shift in the burden onto...

25/08/2016 Simon Sloane, Fieldfisher, United Kingdom

Last trends in D&O policies and bail cover in Spain

In the last years, it can be perceived in Spain an important increase of the corporate crimes, such as fraud, improper management, misappropriation, etc., which are attributed to the directors and officers of listed companies or financial entities with a huge media impact

25/08/2016 Luis Alfonso Fernández Manzano, Hogan Lovells, Spain

Claim made clauses – The Italian debate

In the absence of a specific discipline, it has been for about 10 years that in Italy we discuss about the validity of claims made clauses

25/08/2016 David M Marino, DLA Piper, Italy

2010 Unrest and 2011 Floods – re/insurance lessons learned from Thailand?

In 2010 and 2011 Thailand experienced unrest and major floods, which tested the resources and capacity of the local insurance market and its offshore reinsurers to respond to and deal with complex, high value, high profile claims and litigation

25/08/2016 Alan Polivnick, Watson Farley & Williams, Thailand

Is nanotech changing the insurance industry's DNA?

Our technological powers increase, but the side effects and potential hazards also escalate” – Alvin Toffler

25/08/2016 Louise Cantrill, Mills Oakley, Australia

Revisiting the CGL Policy and the Duty to Defend in Canada: The Triggering Event

The standard wordings in a commercial general liability policy (CGL) will frequently read as follows:

Bodily Injury and Property Damage Liability

Insuring Agreement:

To pay on behalf of the insured those sums which the Insured shall become legally obligated to pay as damages because of:

(b) Property...

15/06/2015 Harmon C Hayden, Fulton and Company, Canada

Common Cross-Border Insurance and Reinsurance issues and our experience of recent Natural Catastrophes, as an example

The international insurance and reinsurance market has been impacted in recent years by a number of major natural catastrophes, including flooding in Thailand and Central Europe, wildfires in New South Wales and Southern California and earthquakes in New Zealand. This article examines some of the...

15/06/2015 Costas Frangeskides, Holman Fenwick Willan, United Kingdom

UK Insurance Contract Law Reform

On 12 February 2015 the UK Parliament passed the Insurance Act 2015 which will introduce the most significant changes to English insurance law for at least 100 years and arguably the most significant changes ever.

The Act will come into force on 12 August 2016. Some leading insurers, however, have...

15/06/2015 Peter Rogan, Ince & Co, United Kingdom

Complaints’ handling - New rules

The Italian insurance regulator, IVASS, recently issued new rules regarding complaints handling by insurance undertakings in compliance with the recently enacted European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) guidelines. The new rules have been introduced as amendments to IVASS...

15/06/2015 David M Marino, DLA Piper, Italy

Singapore At 50: The Evolution of a Global (Re)Insurance Hub

Fifteen years ago Mr Lee Hsein Loong, then the Chairman of Singapore's insurance regulator, now the country's Prime Minister, set out the goal of Singapore becoming a leading Asian insurance and reinsurance hub by the year 2003. This objective has been met and significantly surpassed, with Singapore...

15/06/2015 Mark Errington, RPC, Singapore

Issues arising out of business interruption insurance following street protests

Introduction

Given Hong Kong's reputation as a thriving and peaceful city, it must have seemed quite strange to many Euromoney readers to watch protestors descend onto parts of the central business district of Hong Kong in September 2014. While certain major roads were blocked by the protestors...

15/06/2015 Antony Sassi, RPC, Hong Kong Denise Pong, RPC, Hong Kong

Proportionate Liability In Australia

Approximately 10 years ago legislation was introduced in the various Australian states and territories which significantly changed the law regarding contribution between joint wrongdoers. Although there is some variation in the legislation, the concept of proportionate liability applies throughout...

15/06/2015 Peter Rashleigh, DLA Piper, Australia

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