On September 20, 2018 the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”) issued “OFAC Advisory to the Maritime Petroleum Shipping Community” to alert the shipping industry participants, including insurers, as to sanctions risks relating to petroleum shipments to or from Syria.  OFAC’s Syria Sanctions Program is authorized by Executive Order 13582 and regulations at 31 C.F.R. Part 542. The OFAC Advisory indicates: “The U.S. government will aggressively target for designation any person who provides support to the regime, for example by facilitating exports to or impor ..read more

Locke Lord’s Insurance & Reinsurance Newsletter provides topical snapshots of recent developments in the fast-changing world of insurance. For further information on any of the subjects covered in the newsletter, please contact one of the members of our Insurance team. In This Issue: Powerful But Not Responsible: Texas Department of Insurance Clarifies Licensed Officer Requirement for Insurance Agencies U.S. Insurer Group Capital Calculation Process Moves Ahead Follow the Leader: NYDFS Cybersecurity Regulation Leads the Way for Other States and Industries Testing the Limits III – Cyber Co ..read more

The NAIC has scheduled an Executive Committee meeting on June 25, 2019 to consider finalizing proposed revisions to the NAIC Credit for Reinsurance Model Law and Regulation (Models).  It is anticipated that the Executive Committee will adopt the revised Models during this meeting. State insurance regulators took a significant step forward in unanimously adopting these revisions during a Financial Condition (E) Committee conference call held on May 28. The Committee resolved a last question from interested parties in clarifying language as to the reinsurance agreements eligible for the eli ..read more

The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative announced on December 11, 2018 that they intend to sign a new Bilateral Agreement between the U.S. and the U.K. on Prudential Measures Regarding Insurance and Reinsurance (“Covered Agreement”). In its press release, the U.S. Treasury noted that the Covered Agreement “is an important step in providing regulatory certainty and market continuity as the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union in March 2019, as well as in making U.S. companies more competitive in domestic and foreign markets and making r ..read more

Partners Brian Casey and Benjamin Sykes will discuss “The Non-InsurTechs – How Technology Focused InsurTechs Are Changing the Face of the Industry Without Selling a Single Policy” at the AIRROC 2021 Virtual Spring Membership Meeting on March 9, 2021. If you are registered for the AIRROC Spring Meeting, visit us in our drop-in room at the conclusion of the meeting. The post AIRROC Spring Membership Meeting 2021 appeared first on Insurance & Reinsurance ..read more

The insurance industry experienced significant and varied forms of new legislation and regulation during the last decade. Below, we highlight what we view as the top 10 of these legal and regulatory changes. 1. Dodd-Frank Act In response the 2007-2008 financial crisis, Congress acted to implement major legislative reforms for addressing systemic risk in the financial markets through the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010. A number of these reforms directly or indirectly affected the insurance industry:Federal Insurance OfficeThe FIO is now a unit of the U.S.  ..read more

Locke Lord’s Insurance & Reinsurance Newsletter provides topical snapshots of recent developments in the fast-changing world of insurance. For further information on any of the subjects covered in the newsletter, please contact one of the members of our Insurance team. In This Issue: Locke Lord Lawyers Attend First Selection Days for Hartford InsurTech Hub; Will Team With Accelerator in 2019 With Brexit on the Horizon, the U.S. and UK Sign a Separate Covered Agreement Party-Appointed Arbitrators and the “Evident Partiality” Standard: Second Circuit Clarifies the Rules Click here to ..read more