Mealey's Reinsurance
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February 28, 2024
Settlements Sought, Liquidation Proposal Updated In Vesttoo Chapter 11 Cases
WILMINGTON, Del. — After putting forth several proposed settlements for approval in a Delaware federal bankruptcy court following mediation, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors on Feb. 28 filed the latest of its recent amendments to its proposed Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for Vesttoo Ltd. and dozens of Vesttoo affiliates.
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February 28, 2024
9th Circuit Sets Argument In Dispute Involving What Are ‘Farming Activities’
SAN FRANCISCO — The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals has set oral argument for April 5 in a crop insurance dispute involving federal reinsurance, the term “farming activities” and the structure of a farming operation.
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February 28, 2024
Reinsurers Turn To 2nd Circuit In Oil Seizure Row Involving Insurrection Clause
NEW YORK — Reinsurers who were ordered to pay CITGO Petroleum Corp. more than $72.5 million following a jury trial in a suit stemming from the February 2020 seizure of crude oil at a Venezuelan port and involving a marine cargo reinsurance policy have obtained a supersedeas bond and initiated an appeal.
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February 27, 2024
Parties Brief Sovereign Immunity In Suit Over Microcaptive Reporting
SALT LAKE CITY — Following a dismissal motion hearing in a case over a 2016 Internal Revenue Service reporting requirement for microcaptive insurance companies, the U.S. government and the plaintiffs have filed supplemental briefs at the direction of a Utah federal judge to address whether sovereign immunity bars certain monetary relief.
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February 27, 2024
English Judge Continues Injunction In Reinsurer’s Misrepresentation Row
LONDON — Ruling against a reinsurer on a question of contractual construction that involves a hierarchy or “confusion” clause, a judge of the High Court of England and Wales allowed an anti-suit injunction (ASI) to continue until a certain determination is made.
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February 23, 2024
Reverse-Preemption Ruling Concerning Adversary Case Is Upheld On Appeal
NEW YORK — Agreeing with a bankruptcy judge’s determination that reverse-preemption under the McCarran–Ferguson Act (MFA) applies, a New York federal judge on Feb. 22 upheld the partial stay of an adversary proceeding in an expansive dispute involving a reinsurer.
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February 23, 2024
Firm Deadline Sought For Procedures Proposal In Reinsurer’s Liquidation
WILMINGTON, Del. — Fifty-four cedents and retrocessionares have asked the Delaware Chancery Court to require the receiver for life and health reinsurer Scottish Re (U.S.) Inc. (SRUS) “to move for approval of a proof of claim process and related liquidation procedures” by March 4.
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February 22, 2024
$169M Deal To Resolve Part Of ACA Reinsurance Row Gets Preliminary OK
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. Court of Federal Claims judge on Feb. 21 granted preliminary approval of a class settlement under which the amount the government has to pay to resolve part of a case over the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) would drop from $185,230,024.42 to $169,022,397.28.
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February 21, 2024
New York Panel: Equitable Subrogation Applies In Retrocessional Insurer’s Case
NEW YORK — Saying it had not previously addressed the issue, an appellate panel in New York ruled that a retrocessional insurer that paid a big chunk of the settlement in a personal injury case has standing to assert a legal malpractice claim as an equitable subrogee.
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February 21, 2024
Government Would Get Discount Under Class Deal In ACA Reinsurance Row
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The amount the government has to pay to resolve part of a case over the Transitional Reinsurance Program (TRP) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) would drop from $185,230,024.42 to $169,022,397.28 under a class settlement proposed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
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February 20, 2024
Judge Rejects Reinsurer’s Efforts To Quash Service In Settlement Reimbursement Row
OMAHA, Neb. — Ruling that a Brazil-based reinsurer “failed to rebut [an insurer’s] prima facie case of effective service of process,” a Nebraska federal judge denied the reinsurer’s motions to vacate default and quash service in the suit over reimbursement for a settlement reached with Montana regarding alleged asbestos exposure.
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February 15, 2024
Bid For Reconsideration On Third-Party Implied Indemnity Claim Is Disputed
JACKSON, Miss. — Domino’s Pizza LLC and related entities are seeking reconsideration of a ruling that a third-party claim for implied indemnity survives dismissal in a dispute involving a franchisee and commutation of reinsurance, and in an opposition brief, third-party plaintiffs tell a Mississippi federal court that this case differs from two the Domino’s entities cited.
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February 15, 2024
Liquidation Order Leads To Permanent Stay For 1 Defendant In Coverage Row
NEWARK, N.J. — All claims against one defendant in a suit in New Jersey federal court over environmental investigation and remediation have been permanently stayed because of a liquidation and injunction order issued by the Delaware Court of Chancery.
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February 15, 2024
Disputes Over Liquidation Proposal Sent To Mediation In Vesttoo Chapter 11 Cases
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware federal bankruptcy judge has referred matters pertaining to a proposed Chapter 11 plan of liquidation for Vesttoo Ltd. and dozens of its affiliates to mediation.
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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.