In Koken v. Cologne Reinsurance (Barbados) Ltd., Case No. 98-0678 (USDC M.D. Pa. Aug. 23, 2006), a District Court reaffirmed its earlier decision that an arbitration provision was binding upon the Insurance Commissioner of Pennsylvania, acting as the liquidator of American Integrity Insurance Company, rejecting an argument based upon the McCarran-Ferguson Act. The Court declined to vacate the majority of the award under the manifest disregard of law standard, holding that “an erroneous interpretation by the arbitration panel does not warrant a finding of manifest disregard,” but vacated one paragraph of the award as being in manifest disregard of law, becuase it continued an insurance coverage past the time provided for by an unambiguous Pennsylvania statute.
District Court refuses to vacate arbitration award
In Hilb Rogal & Hobbs Co. v. Golub, Case No. 05-574 (USDC E.D. Va. Aug. 18, 2006), a non-insurance case, a District Court refused to vacate an arbitration award under the manifest disregard of law standard, holding that “[t]he mere fact that an arbitration panel reached a legal conclusion in error is not sufficient for vacatur.”
Law journal article addresses hurricane loss reinsurance issues
Vincent Vitkowsky, Reinsurance Issues Arising From the 2005 Hurricane Season, 41 Tort Trial & Ins. Prac. L. J. 999 (Spring 2006) – the author addresses issues likely to arise under reinsurance of hurricane losses, including coverage and claim adjustment issues, the follow-the-fortunes doctrine, “occurrence” definitions and aggregation of losses.
Vacation of arbitration awards due to failure to follow arbitration agreement
Two opinions recently have addressed the issue of whether an arbitration award should be vacated when the arbitrators fail to follow the arbitration agreement.
- In Martin v. Wells Fargo Financial, Inc., 2006 WL 2466945, Case No. 05-00003 (9th Cir. Aug. 25, 2006), the Court of Appeals affirmed a District Court decision vacating an arbitration award “because the underlying arbitrations were not conducted in accordance with the terms of the parties' arbitration agreement.” This unreported opinion is not available on Pacer, and it does not reveal what the Court of Appeals viewed as the deficiencies in the arbitration.
- In Allstate Ins. Co. v. Superior Court, 2006 WL 2473419 (Cal.Ct.App. Aug. 29, 2006), the Court reversed the vacation of an award on the basis that the panel rendered a “reasoned” award when the arbitration agreement provided that the award should not state reasons. Instead of vacating the award, the Court directed that the “reasons” be stricken from the confirmed award as surplusage.
Alternative Risk Transfer portal
Artemis describes iteself as “the Alternative Risk Transfer Portal.” It contains a directory describing numerous alternative risk transfer financing transactions, and provides visitors with an oportunity to subscribe to a news feed of alternative risk transfer deals.