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Mealey's Reinsurance

January 31, 2024
Bermuda Entities Spar In 2nd Circuit Over Bid To Revive Arbitrator Bias Row

NEW YORK — Arguing in part that “[s]ubject matter jurisdiction could not be clearer,” a Bermuda-based reinsurer urged the Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to reject a bid to revive a case involving an arbitrator and two reinsurance contracts with a Bermuda-based insurer.
January 30, 2024
Vice Chancellor Mostly Denies Dismissal In Suit Over Asset Dissipation

WILMINGTON, Del. — Ruling on four long-pending motions in a suit over a complex asset-swap transaction that the plaintiffs argue resulted in the “dissipation of at least $250 million,” a Delaware vice chancellor granted dismissal only as to a claim of fraudulent trading under Cayman Islands law.
January 29, 2024
Apple Entities Win Partial Summary Judgment In Oregon Excise Tax Row

SALEM, Ore. — Granting partial summary judgment for Apple Inc. and subsidiaries in a corporation excise tax case, an Oregon Tax Court judge rejected the Oregon Department of Revenue’s theory that a subsidiary reinsurer “became subject to Oregon’s taxing jurisdiction because” the reinsurance contract “amounted to hiring . . . an in-state agent.”
January 25, 2024
Plaintiffs Make Class Certification Arguments In DUFTA Row Involving Insurer

WILMINGTON, Del. — Asserting that their Delaware Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (DUFTA) claims “focus exclusively on Defendants’ conduct and circumstances,” policyholders and agents challenging an alleged scheme to strip capital from an insurance subsidiary on which more than 1 million policyholders depend for long-term care (LTC) disability benefits urged the Delaware Chancery Court to certify their proposed class.
January 25, 2024
Vesttoo Bankruptcy Debtors: Proceeding In Israel Would Be More Efficient

WILMINGTON, Del. — A variety of objections have been lodged in Delaware federal bankruptcy court regarding the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors’ Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliates, including one in which the debtors argue that the cases should be dismissed “so that more efficient insolvency proceedings can be filed in Israel.”
January 25, 2024
Judge Rejects Pizza Chain’s Bid To Ditch Third-Party Implied Indemnity Claim

JACKSON, Miss. — A third-party “claim for implied indemnity” against Domino’s Pizza LLC and related entities remains after a Mississippi federal judge otherwise dismissed a third-party complaint in the dispute involving a franchisee and commutation of reinsurance.
January 23, 2024
Stipulation Ends Suit Over Alleged ‘Raid’ Of Facultative Reinsurance Brokerage

CHICAGO — After all parties filed a stipulation of dismissal with prejudice, an Illinois federal judge terminated a breach of contract and Defend Trade Secrets Act (DTSA) suit over an alleged “raid” of a facultative reinsurance brokerage.
January 23, 2024
Imputing Contacts, Judge Finds Personal Jurisdiction In Reinsurance Row

OMAHA, Neb. — Imputation is appropriate at this stage and, therefore, so is personal jurisdiction over a defendant that describes itself as “an events and hospitality company,” a Nebraska federal judge said in a Jan. 22 ruling denying dismissal of a suit involving a reinsurance contract and a settlement with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures.
January 22, 2024
Insolvent Insurers’ Owner Opposes Injunction After Ordered To Pay $576M Judgment

GREENSBORO, N.C. — The owner of insolvent insurers filed a brief in a North Carolina federal court, opposing an insurer’s motion for an injunction to prevent the owner from transferring assets after a North Carolina federal judge issued a judgment requiring the owner to pay more than $576 million pursuant to a personal guaranty for a reinsurance agreement.
January 18, 2024
Committee Seeks To Bar Some Claimants In Vesttoo Cases From Liquidation Vote

WILMINGTON, Del. — The Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors on Jan. 17 asked a Delaware federal bankruptcy court to reclassify 49 disputed claims so the joint provisional liquidators (JPLs) that submitted them can’t vote on the committee’s Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for Vesttoo Ltd. and 48 affiliates.
January 18, 2024
Parties Stipulate To Dismissal Of Appeal In ERISA Row Over Imputed Withdrawal Liability

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Multiemployer pension plan trustees and a Bermuda insurance and reinsurance company have stipulated to voluntary dismissal with prejudice of the trustees’ appeal to the District of Columbia Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals regarding dismissal of their lawsuit over $934 million in withdrawal liability.
January 17, 2024
Parties Stipulate To Dismissal In Defense Costs Row Involving Liquidation

NEW CASTLE, Del. — All claims and counterclaims in a defense costs dispute in the Delaware Superior Court that centers on whether reinsurer Alpha Re’s 2018 liquidation triggered an exclusion have been dismissed without prejudice under a stipulation in which the parties reported entering into an unspecified “Tolling & Standstill Agreement.”
January 17, 2024
Judge: Arbitration Clause, Sovereign Immunity Apply In Crop Insurance Row

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Ruling in part that all claims against a crop insurer must be arbitrated “at least for ‘gateway’ matters” and that the government defendants didn’t waive their sovereign immunity, a Michigan federal judge dismissed a suit over claims that the plaintiffs say have not been adjusted in more than three years.
January 16, 2024
Class Certification Sought In DUFTA Suit Concerning Long-Term Care Insurer

WILMINGTON, Del. — Policyholders who filed a Delaware Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act (DUFTA) suit over what they allege were fraudulent transfers from an insurance subsidiary on which more than 1 million policyholders depend for long-term care (LTC) disability benefits filed a motion on Jan. 12 in Delaware Chancery court for class certification.
January 16, 2024
Former Hedge Fund Exec Is Sentenced To Time Served In Securities Fraud Case

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — One of three former hedge fund executives that a New York federal jury found guilty of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud for an alleged scheme involving a reinsurer has been sentenced to time served, a $5,000 fine and a $200 special assessment.
January 12, 2024
Judge Grants Ex Parte Bid For Discovery On Reinsurers’ Identity In Breach Case

NEW ORLEANS — Companies that own and operate an offshore supply vessel have won approval of an ex parte motion in Louisiana federal court for leave to conduct expedited discovery regarding the identity of reinsurers in a breach of contract and bad faith suit.
January 12, 2024
Citing Supplemental Notice Filing, Movants Press Opt-Out Issue Again In COI Hike Row

PHILADELPHIA — Citing a motion pending in Pennsylvania federal court, the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals stayed consolidated appeals challenging denial of a request to extend the opt-out deadline in the class settlement of two similar cases over universal life insurance policy cost of insurance (COI) increases.
January 11, 2024
Insurer Seeks N.C. High Court Review In Row Involving Insolvent Insurers’ Owner

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Puerto Rico-based insurer petitioned the North Carolina Supreme Court to review an appeals court decision that vacated a lower court injunction enjoining the owner of insolvent insurers from withdrawing without the North Carolina Insurance commissioner’s consent more than $5,000 from any entity controlled by the owner in an enforcement action for a $524 million judgment, arguing that the appellate court decision is contrary to Supreme Court precedent.
January 10, 2024
Reinsurer Tackles Third-Party Beneficiary Theory In Cleanup Costs Coverage Row

PADUCAH, Ky. — Arguing in part that what it calls a newly asserted third-party beneficiary theory fails as a matter of law, a reinsurer filed a reply brief on Jan. 9 urging a Kentucky federal court to grant its summary judgment motion in a dispute over pollution-related cleanup costs.
January 10, 2024
Ruling A Microcaptive Arrangement Not Insurance, Tax Court Upholds Penalties

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A microcaptive arrangement was “not insurance for federal income tax purposes,” and the three shareholders of a California corporation are liable for accuracy-related penalties totaling 20% of the amount the corporation understated income tax from 2012 to 2014 as a result, a U.S. Tax Court judge ruled.
January 05, 2024
Merck, Insurers Ask N.J. High Court To Dismiss Cyberattack Coverage Dispute

TRENTON, N.J. — Merck & Co. Inc. and certain insurers filed stipulations in the New Jersey Supreme Court seeking dismissal of the insurers from Merck’s lawsuit seeking coverage for its losses arising from a June 2017 malware/cyberattack.
January 04, 2024
1 Defendant Files Status Report In Insurer’s Suit Over Asbestos Liabilities Row

OMAHA, Neb. — Evaluating proof of claims in separate liquidation proceedings “is expected to take several years,” a defendant told a Nebraska federal court in its latest status report in a suit over the $157.2 million settlement National Indemnity Co. (NICO) reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposures.
January 03, 2024
Exclusion Bids Regarding Claims, Outside Counsel Disputed In Reinsurance Row

LOS ANGELES — In California federal court filings, parties in a reinsurance billings suit over a variety of claims are disputing attempts by one defendant to exclude evidence regarding claims submitted to other reinsurers and opinions of outside counsel.
January 03, 2024
Company Seeks To Compel Insurers To Produce Documents In AFFF Litigation

CHARLESTON, S.C. — A company that makes firefighting products filed a motion on Jan. 2 in South Carolina federal court seeking to compel insurance companies to produce documents in a coverage dispute related to injuries from the firefighting substance aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) in the multidistrict litigation for AFFF, arguing that the insurers have refused to produce basic categories of documents that are directly related to the issues in dispute and are “plainly subject to discovery.” The company contends that the insurers’ objections to discovery requests are not valid, especially considering that the insurers are “seeking to escape up to $1 billion in coverage.”
January 02, 2024
Exclusion, Partial Summary Judgment Bids Disputed In Microcaptive Insurance Suit

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A tax attorney and the federal government have signaled agreement to resolve the attorney’s claim for disclosure of tax information even as they pursue summary judgment and expert exclusion motions in the case involving a penalty related to microcaptive insurance companies in a Florida federal court.