Uncovering a gatekeeper: why the SEC should mandate disclosure of details concerning directors' and officers' liability insurance policies.
This Article explores the connection between corporate governance and D&O insurance. It argues that D&O insurers act as gatekeepers and guarantors of corporate governance, screening and pricing corporate governance risks to maintain the profitability of their risk pools. As a result, in a well-working insurance market, D&O insurance premiums...

The high price of misconduct: financial services firms are settling record fines with regulators and this is helping to make directors and officers liability insurance very hard to find at a reasonable price. Buyers will eventually be stuck with higher rates and more restrictions.
In recent years there has been a proliferation of lawsuits and administrative proceedings involving financial institutions. Some involve alleged misconduct of financial institutions, such as the allocation of IPO shares to favorite clients, conflicted research analysts and rapid-fire trading by mutual funds. Others involve activities relating to specific clients...

Climate change, insurability of large-scale disasters, and the emerging liability challenge.
This Article focuses on the interaction between uncertainty and insurability in the context of some of the risks associated with climate change. It discusses the evolution of insured losses due to weather-related disasters over the past decade and the key drivers of the sharp increases in both economic and...

Striking a balance: while the Tellabs decision finds middle ground between investors and corporate executives, it is expected to have little impact on D&O coverage.
Summary * This June, the U.S. Supreme Court found some important middle ground in the field of securities class-action lawsuits. * Don't expect that a single court decision will affect the D&O market, however. * The Supreme Court is still upholding the rights...

Beecher Carlson Holding, Inc.
JOHN J. KERNS has been hired to serve as a managing director for the New York office of Beecher Carlson Holdings, Inc. He is responsible for designing and distributing consulting and broking services. He will focus on special coverages such as directors' and officers' liability insurance. He will also...

Choppy waters: John Keogh, president and CEO of National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pa., the nation's leading writer of directors' and officers' liability insurance, calls the D&O market "unpredictable." He sat recently for an interview with Risk & Insurance. Our questions and his answers follow.
What is National Union's position in the D&O market? We're the largest underwriter of this product line in the country. We're almost exclusively a lead carrier, so we set terms and conditions for everyone else to follow. In the last two years, on a relative basis, we've...

THE LAW.
Negotiating The Fraud Exclusion A directors' and officers' liability insurance policy typically contains a fraudulent act or dishonesty exclusion. The exclusion may provide that the insurer shall not be liable to make payment for loss in connection with any claim made against the insured arising out of,...

Will your D&O coverage be there when you need it?
Don't let employment practices claims deplete the protection offered by your D&O policy. Prospective outside directors typically refuse to join boards unless they will be covered by directors' and officers' (D&O) liability insurance. Although few prospective directors will go so far as to specify precisely what D&O...

Is your D&O policy ready to handle M&A?
Take steps now to ensure that your merger will not be derailed by insurance considerations. In today's dynamic economy, it is vital for anyone purchasing directors' and officers' (D&O) liability insurance to evaluate how the numerous policies in the marketplace handle mergers, consolidations, and acquisitions. ...

Fraud in the new-issues market: empirical evidence on securities class actions.
Introduction On Friday morning, April 2, 1993, Philip Morris announced its plans to slash the average price of its Marlboro line of cigarettes by forty cents per pack.(1) Philip Morris also reported that the price cut would reduce projected earnings of its tobacco products for 1993 by nearly forty...