Further guidance for insurers and policyholders on business interruption claims is now available following an award made by Lord Mance in Certain Policyholders v China Taiping Insurance (UK) Co Ltd. Whilst the arbitration award will not be binding on the courts, it will no doubt prove persuasive and represents a victory for insurers, with Lord Mance finding no coverage under the denial of access cause in question ...
On September 8, 2021, Mr. Éric Girard, Minister of Finance, presented his Draft Regulation specifying the classes of liability insurance contracts that may derogate from public policy rules previously applicable to liability insurance (the? Draft Regulation ?), Namely those set out in articles 2500 and 2503 of the Civil Code of Quebec (? CCQ? ) concerning the insurer? s duty to defend and the exclusive application of insurance coverage to injured third parties ...
In JML-Craft Pty Ltd v China Ping An Insurance (Hong Kong) Company Ltd, HCCT 27/2021, the subcontractor (P) applied for an interlocutory injunction to restrain the main contractor (D2) from making any further demand under a surety bond (Advance Payment Bond) and receiving any payment under it pending disposal of the action, on the grounds that the demand was made fraudulently and/or in bad faith, knowing that it was not entitled to make the demand under the Advance Payment Agreement and/
The question of insurers’ duty to defend is back in the spotlight. On March 18, 2021, the Superior Court once again considered the issue in its application of the law to facts relevant to the dispute.1 Facts In April 2016, Cégerco Inc. (“Cégerco”), a general contractor, retained the services of Construction Placo Inc ...
On July 1st 2021, the Russian President signed a draft law on amendments to the Russian Civil Code, establishing the possi-bility of creation of a new type of non-commercial organization - a personal foundation- from March 1st 2022.Purposes of using personal foundationsThe personal foundation will become a new asset planning instrument, after the detailed legislation comes into force ...
A dangerous trap for an unwary insured looking for insurance coverage can be a notice provision. To trigger certain liability insurance policies, the insurer may require that a “claim” be both made against an insured and that the insured then report such claim to its insurer during the time the single insurance policy is in effect. This is what is known as a “claims-made-and-reported” policy ...
On Thursday, May 27, 2021, article 2503 of the Civil Code of Québec was amended as part of the adoption of Bill 82, titled An Act respecting mainly the implementation of certain provisions of the budget speech of 10 March 2020, which we had discussedin a publication last December ...
In Notice 2021-31, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) provides broad guidance in a question-and-answer format on the application of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP) regarding premium assistance under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985 (COBRA) continuation coverage provisions ...
On Wednesday, a federal judge in Texas denied Factory Mutual’s Rule 12(c) motion for judgment on the pleadings, finding that the plaintiffs adequately alleged that the presence of COVID-19 on their property caused covered physical loss or damage in the case of Cinemark Holdings, Inc. v. Factory Mutual Insurance Co., No. 4:21-CV-00011 (E.D. Tex. May 5, 2021) ...
Open banking is an emerging financial services model that focuses on the portability and open availability of customer data held by financial institutions. It involves opening up banking systems, particularly customer data, to third parties to allow them provide services directly to customers ...
The recent anti-suit injunction decision in Axis v Absa Group demonstrates the importance of considering the practical effect of jurisdiction clauses when a suite of contracts or (re)insurance policies are entered into ...
Everest National Insurance Company has filed a lawsuit denying any obligation to cover a post-acquisition lawsuit by a credit union alleging fraud against two banks and their executives. The seller paid additional premium for an extended reporting period to report claims based on pre-acquisition wrongful conduct, but the insurer denied coverage on the ground that any claims asserted by the buyer are excluded under the D&O policy’s “insured vs ...
On March 26, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) published Announcement 2021-7, which notifies taxpayers that certain amounts paid for personal protective equipment (such as masks, hand sanitizer, and sanitizing wipes) for the primary purpose of preventing the spread of COVID-19 (“COVID-19 PPE”) may be an eligible expense that can be reimbursed from certain health care account based plans ...
On April 9, 2021, the IRS released Private Letter Ruling (PLR) 202114002 (January 13, 2021), which provides additional context to taxpayers worried about whether their Fintech or Insurtech shares represent Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) under Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 1202 ...
On April 8, 2021, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced a proposed rate increase of 1.3 percent for skilled nursing providers in fiscal year 2022. It is estimated this will result in approximately $444 million increase in payments to skilled nursing facilities (SNF) under Medicare Part A for the fiscal year. This increased payment rate does not incorporate the SNF Value-Based Program (VBP) reductions that CMS estimates to be $184 ...
