Archives: Financial Insurance Coverage

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Are your crypto risks insured? Look at D&O and cyber policies first

Evidenced by its $1.29 trillion market cap, (CoinMarketCap, May 17, 2022) interest in cryptocurrency has skyrocketed in recent years (Haar, 2022). Indeed, as of April 2, 2022, the cryptocurrency market was larger than Italy’s GDP, the eighth largest in the world (Adams and Walker, 2022). Of course, with more interest and value comes more risk, … Continue Reading

Guaranteed Rate v. Ace American Insurance – a victory for policyholders seeking coverage for government investigations

By Zachary S. Roman and Dominic Rupprecht on 30 March 2022 Posted in D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Government investigations, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General

Government investigations by SEC, DOJ, and state attorney generals are a significant source of exposure for companies and their directors and officers. Companies can spend millions of dollars responding to a government subpoena or investigative demand. The broadly worded demands for information or testimony typically require extensive searches through mountains of paper documents and electronically … Continue Reading

The duty to defend requires an early judgment

By Benjamin Fliegel on 24 February 2022 Posted in Business interruption, Commercial General Liability, Construction Coverage, Corporate and Transactional Insurance Coverage, Cyberliability, Employment Practices Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General

If an insurance company owes a duty to defend, the dispute should be decided promptly, on the pleadings. Any delay undermines the duty to defend. The scope of the duty to defend should be adjudicated on the pleadings as quickly as possible to give policyholders the true value of their policies and the benefit of … Continue Reading

Labels, Shmabels: Recent Decisions Confirm No “Restitution / Disgorgement” Exclusion in Management Liability Policies

By Kathryn Bayes and Courtney Horrigan on 16 December 2021 Posted in D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage

Ever since the Seventh Circuit’s 2001 decision in Level 3 Communications, Inc. v. Federal Insurance Co., 272 F.3d 908 (7th Cir. 2001), insurance companies have argued that settlements constituting restitution or disgorgement are uninsurable on grounds of public policy. While numerous decisions since 2001 have undercut this defense, two recent decisions out of the New … Continue Reading

End to long-running dispute over uninsurability under D&O insurance

By Christopher Kuleba and Matthew B. Weaver on 6 December 2021 Posted in D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage

Putting an end to a 12-year-old dispute between J.P. Morgan Securities’ predecessor, Bear Stearns & Co., and several of its insurers, on November 23, 2021, New York’s high court held that J.P. Morgan’s $140 million payment to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) did not constitute an uninsurable “penalty” under J.P. Morgan’s excess directors & … Continue Reading

Pollution exclusion should not preclude coverage for virus-related claims

By Mike Sampson on 3 April 2020 Posted in Commercial General Liability, Construction Coverage, Corporate and Transactional Insurance Coverage, Cyberliability, D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Insurance Insolvency & Regulatory, Insurance News of Note, London/Bermuda Arbitrations, Property Damage & Business Interruption, Uncategorized

Faced with mounting claims for insurance coverage as a result of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, commercial insurers are likely to search for any policy provision that they think will enable them to avoid paying virus-related claims. One provision that insurers ultimately may invoke in an attempt to deny such claims is the so-called “pollution … Continue Reading

Schrödinger’s Coverage: When a Risk is Covered and Not Covered by Insurance

By Andy Moss on 16 March 2017 Posted in Commercial General Liability, Cyberliability, D&O, E&O, Professional Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage, Insurance General, Property Damage & Business Interruption

When is a person an “employee” under one insurance policy but not an employee under another? Conflicting or inconsistent definitions across multiple policy lines issued to the same company can give rise to significant gaps in insurance coverage, as a recent opinion of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit instructs, Telamon Corp. … Continue Reading

New York Department of Financial Services Announces New Cyber Security Measures Directed at Strengthening Insurers’ Cyber Defenses

By Emily Garrison and Andy Moss on 16 February 2015 Posted in Cyberliability, Financial Insurance Coverage, Insurance Coverage

The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) announced last week a series of measures it plans to take "to help strengthen cyber hacking defenses at insurers." Those measures include, among other things: regular, targeted assessments of cyber security preparedness at insurance companies; putting forward enhanced regulations requiring institutions to meet heightened standards for cyber security; and considering the ways in which NYDFS can support and encourage the development of the cyber security insurance market. The NYDFS stated that it plans to initiate these measures in the coming weeks and months.… Continue Reading