The New Hampshire Supreme Court has upheld a settlement of disputes and claims involving insureds and reinsureds of The Home Insurance Company, which was placed in liquidation by the New Hampshire Commissioner of Insurance. Some of The Home's reinsurers opposed the settlement. The Court upheld the settlement as within the authority of the liquidator and the Court, and fair and reasonable. This process is interesting in part because the settlement had to be approved by creditors of The Home, by a Court in the UK and by the UK's insurance regulatory body, the Financial Services Agency. In the Matter of the Liquidation of The Home Ins. Co., Case No. 2005-740 (N.H. Dec. 5, 2006).
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NAIC Reinsurance Task Force meeting summary
The summary of the meetings of the NAIC's Reinsurance Task Force on December 9, 2006 and December 11, 2006 at the 2006 Winter Meeting has been posted on the NAIC's Internet site. It provides a brief description of the action taken on the proposed creation of the Reinsurance Evaluation Office to rate the financial strength of reinsurers as a basis for a collateral requirement, stating that the proposal should be “further refined” by the NAIC's Financial Condition (E) Committee no later than September 2007.
Connecticut Task Force recommends run-off regulation for solvent insurers
A Task Force appointed by the Connecticut Insurance Commissioner has issued a report proposing the adoption of statutes and regulations to oversee the run-off of solvent companies. Such oversight would be exercised by the Department of Insurance. The report notes the experience of the UK in this area and moves to provide a similar mechanism in several states in the US.
NAIC Task Force report on reinsurance collateral adopted
Although there are not yet any minutes or summary posted on the NAIC's Internet site, news reports indicate that the NAIC's Reinsurance Task Force, by a vote of 15-5, has adopted the latest draft proposal to change the collateral rules for reinsurance. Additional information will be posted here as it becomes available. Read the news story. The proposal should now go to the NAIC's Financial Condition Committee.
Journal of Reinsurance articles
The Fall issue of the Journal of Reinsurance is out. Published by the Intermediaries & Reinsurance Underwriters Association, articles in the current issue include:
- Randy Maniloff, How Do You Catch a Cloud and Pin It Down? Solving the Problem of Wind v. Water for Hurricane Katrina;
- Insurance Company Run-Off and Reorganization Special Task Force Report, prepared for the Connecticut Department of Insurance;
- Nigel Montgomery, Antony Newman and Kenneth Wylie, Disposing of Discontinued Operations: Part VII Transfers and Schemes of Arrangement in the UK; and
- Joseph Sano, Judicial Consolidation of Arbitrations: From Chaos to Predictibility.
Further information about the articles, and suscription information, may be found at the IRU's Internet site.