Mealey's Reinsurance
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February 14, 2024
Consent Decree Entered Under 1 Dismissal In Case Over Alleged Counterfeit Policies
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A variety of claims and parties have been dismissed under agreements in a sprawling suit over allegations of fraud, trademark counterfeiting and trademark infringement involving captive reinsurance programs, with a Kentucky federal court permanently enjoining two defendants “from future infringement of Plaintiffs’ trademarks.”
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February 14, 2024
Injunction Entered Under Agreement To Resolve Lloyd’s Trademark Infringement Case
HOUSTON — After Lloyd’s America Inc. and Corporation of Lloyd’s and the individual they sued over alleged defamation and trademark infringement reported reaching an agreement to resolve the suit, a Texas federal court entered a permanent injunction according to the terms of their agreement.
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February 13, 2024
Judge Orders Notices On Corner Post In Consolidated Illegal Exaction Cases
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge has directed notices to be filed on whether a pending U.S. Supreme Court case is relevant to consolidated cases in which group health plans allege that the government illegally exacted contributions from them under the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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February 13, 2024
U.S. Tax Court: Ruling For IRS Is ‘Consistent’ With Prior Microcaptive Decisions
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a decision “[c]onsistent with” the court’s handful of rulings on microcaptive arrangements, a U.S. Tax Court judge sustained Internal Revenue Service determinations that two captive insurers did not qualify to escape taxes on purported premiums and that the couple who controlled the captives cannot deduct those amounts and “are liable for the alternative 20% accuracy-related penalties.”
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February 12, 2024
English Justice Upholds Tribunals’ ‘Catastrophe’ Application In COVID-19 Cases
LONDON — Ruling in part that arbitration tribunals in two cases concerning the COVID-19 pandemic correctly concluded “that there had been a catastrophe for the purposes of the relevant Reinsurances,” a justice of the High Court of England and Wales on Feb. 9 dismissed an appeal in one case and allowed an appeal in the other case only as to the operation of an “Hours Clause.”
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February 12, 2024
SEC: Collapsed Hedge Fund’s Co-Founder To Pay $2.4M Under Settlement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Under a settlement in which the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission instituted administrative and cease-and-desist proceedings, a co-founder of the collapsed hedge fund Platinum Partners agreed to payments totaling more than $2.4 million and a collateral industry bar to resolve allegations of violating the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.
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February 12, 2024
Injunction Is Part Of Agreement To Resolve Lloyd’s Trademark Infringement Case
HOUSTON — Lloyd’s America Inc. and Corporation of Lloyd’s and the individual they sued in Texas federal court over alleged defamation and trademark infringement have reported reaching an agreement to resolve the suit, with terms including entry of a permanent injunction.
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February 06, 2024
Judge: Late Fraudulent Joinder Argument Doesn’t Remedy ‘Untimely’ Removal
NEW ALBANY, Ind. — A breach of contract case involving a quota share reinsurance agreement is back in an Indiana court after an Indiana federal judge granted a remand motion, saying in part that the “Defendants’ incantation of fraudulent joinder at this late stage does not remedy” the untimeliness of their removal.
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February 05, 2024
Aon Entities Seek Dismissal Of Insurers’ Suit Over Vesttoo Dealings
NEW YORK — Contending in part that the August 2022 announcement of a $1 billion partnership between Vesttoo Ltd. and Clear Blue Insurance Group undercuts the framing of the complaint against them, Aon PLC (Aon) and Aon Insurance Managers (Bermuda) Ltd. have moved in New York state court for dismissal.
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February 01, 2024
W.R. Grace Insurer, Former Employees Resolve Dispute Over Asbestos Payments
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — A W.R. Grace & Co. insurer and former workers resolved two cases accusing the insurer of profiting from the “float” created when it delays asbestos-related payments for which it was liable.
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February 01, 2024
Notice Of Appeal Is Filed In Securities Suit Involving Reinsurer’s Loss Ratios
PHILADELPHIA — Shareholders have filed a notice of appeal to the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals over summary judgment and other rulings in a suit over allegations that a reinsurer and some of its former executives violated federal securities laws.
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February 01, 2024
Late Objection Bid Draws Opposition In Vesttoo Chapter 11 Cases
WILMINGTON, Del. — Asserting that “Vesttoo’s defrauded creditors have overwhelmingly voted to accept” a Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for Vesttoo Ltd. and dozens of its affiliates, two creditors are among the entities urging a Delaware federal bankruptcy court to reject a motion to allow an untimely objection to claims against one of the affiliates.
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January 31, 2024
Service Is Key Issue In Suit Against Reinsurer For Settlement Reimbursement
OMAHA, Neb. — Whether a Brazil-based reinsurer was properly served has become a key issue in a suit seeking reimbursement for a settlement reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposure, with an insurer telling the Nebraska federal court in a reply brief that precedent supports its bid for default judgment.
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January 31, 2024
4th Circuit Hears $524M Guaranty Case Involving Reinsurance Agreement
RICHMOND, Va. — In oral argument before a Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel, the issuer of a guaranty contended that a judgment against him enforcing an arbitration award for $524 million plus interest should be overturned, and a Puerto Rico-based insurer countered that the terms of the agreements in question and res judicata both support affirmation.
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.