Summer 2007

News from Helix 

The Deal of the Decade

Speaking in public for the first time since the deal was announced, Equitas Chief Executive Officer Scott Moser addressed the Association of Run-Off Companies (ARC) yearly congress at the Merchant Taylors Hall on 27th February 2007. Mike Palmer reviews the deal and looks at what it means for policyholders, cedents, and the wider market. Mike also looks at what precedent if any, the Equitas secenario sets for tackling Lloyd's open years or post-Equitas run-off issue.

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August 2007

The importance of jurisdiction and choice of law clauses - a European perspective 

Whether you are the underwriter or policyholder, choosing the jurisdiction for and applicable law to disputes arising out of your insurance (or reinsurance) contract may well be seen as secondary to the more important issue of the terms of cover, but the importance of those choices should not be under-estimated. A good lesson in the different approaches of even mainstream insurance jurisdictions can be had by looking at the experience of the production companies, banks, insurers and reinsurers embroiled in the film finance saga, which has kept the courts worldwide busy for the last seven years.

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August 2007

DLA Piper Reinsurance Bulletin August 2007

current issues, recent legal developments and court judgements relevant to the insurance and reinsurance industry.

In this issue:

• Defence of alleged settlement agreement in a reinsurance dispute - Korea National -v- Allianz
• A defendant insured's duty to disclose details of insurance cover to a personal injury claimant in Harcourt -v- Griffin
• "Accident" and follow settlements in Aegis -v- Continental Casualty
• Problems for carriers in dealing with agents under a binding authority in Europ Assistance -v- Temple
• Insurers' duties regarding supervising repairs - Heap-Hammond -v- TNT

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August 2007

In July 2007 the Financial Services Authority (FSA) published on its website "Provider and Distributors Regulatory Guide Instrument 2007" (FSA 2007/41). The Annex to this instrument sets out the text of the new Regulatory Guide "The Responsibilities of Providers and Distributors for the Fair Treatment of Customers" (Guide) by which FSA expresses its view on the various duties owned by product providers or distributors to retail customers during the life-cycle of a product under the FSA Principles and under detailed rules. The Guide takes into account changes to the Handbook that have already been made or are due to come into force on 1 November 2007 with the implementation of MiFID.

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Summer 2007

News from Helix 

Meeting the information management challenges of effective run-off

John West, a consultant for Helix UK based in Boston USA, points to how the various relationships between the numerous parties in run-off situations are accompanied by significant IT implications, including coping with multi-layers of information flow which began with the original insurance processes.

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August 2007

This month's roundup of developments affecting the insurance industry sees the European Commission's draft Directive for Solvency II and its call for further advice from CEIOPS. Also in this issue, the HM Treasury consults on the implementation of the Reinsurance Directive.

Insurance Claims could top £3bn
Insurers face more than £3bn of claims from the floods in June and July, forcing up the cost of insurance and raising questions about its availability, analysts have warned. The Association of British Insurers said it had received 8,000 claims from the flooding over the past 72 hours. Its initial estimate of the insurance losses from the deluge over recent days is £500m, taking total claims from the summer flooding to at least £2bn.

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