This article discusses new regulation introducing some novelties which in essence incorporate many comments coming from the industry. Some modifications to the legal framework provided for the previous regulation address the following: D&O Insurance; Side B. Coverage; Defense Costs; Individuals as Policyholders; Nominated Risks; Penalties; Environmental Risks.: and Side C. The Official Gazette published a new regulation enacted by SUSEP governing D&O insurance. Circular No ...
The Texas Supreme Court recently held that policy benefits can constitute actual damages for violations of the Texas Insurance Code, clearing up confusion over the damages recoverable for statutory "bad-faith." The Problem Since 1998, Texas policyholders and insurers have faced uncertainty regarding the damages recoverable when an insurer engages in “unfair or deceptive acts or practices” as set forth in Chapter 541 of the Texas Insurance Code. Section 541 ...
The April issue of the International Financial Law Review(IFLR) includes an international briefing article by SyCipLaw partner HiyasminH. Lapitan entitled “Philippines: Acquiring Insurance Brokers”. The article discusses the new requirement by the Philippine Insurance Commission(IC) for advance approval to acquire a stake in a Philippine corporation that is licensed as an insurance broker or reinsurance broker ...
This article looks at the rise of online advertising amongst brand owners and the impact on Google AdWords. Expenditure on internet advertising in the UK rose by over 15% in the second half of 2016 and is set to increase further this year. With the appetite for online and mobile advertising growing amongst brand owners, the role of Google AdWords appears to be increasing in significance ...
The Court of Appeal has provided useful insight into the meaning of the phrase 'as soon as possible' in relation to insurance policy notification obligations. How will this decision impact upon both insurers and insured parties? In Zurich Insurance plc v Maccaferri Ltd [2016] EWCA Civ ...
Following a Phase II investigation, the Serbian Competition Commission granted conditional clearance to SBB''s takeover of IKOM. This consolidation of leading cable operators in Belgrade represents a landmark case for the Serbian authority and is related to global trends in consolidation of cable network operators, which fosters the investments necessary for improvements to network infrastructure and competition with IPTV, OTT and satellite content providers ...
The Treasury Department has announced further extensions for medium-sized and large-sized employers for compliance with the “employer mandate” of the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”). The employer mandate requires employers with a threshold level of employees to provide affordable health insurance to 95% of their full-time employees. Under the ACA, a full-time employee is defined as any employee who works on average 30 or more hours per week ...
The September 23, 2013 deadline for covered entities, business associates and their subcontractors to implement the new HIPAA rules is approaching quickly. In case you missed it, on January 25, 2013, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued an omnibus final rule modifying the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 ...
Since 1965, the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals has consistently held that defective workmanship that caused bodily injury or property damage did not constitute an “occurrence” under a policy of commercial general liability insurance, and therefore the insurer was not obligated to pay for the damage or tender a defense. See McGann v. Hobbs Lumber Co., 150 W. Va. 364, 145 S.E.2d 476 (1965) ...
Despite the highly publicized announcement that enforcement of the “Pay-or-Play” mandate (which requires businesses to provide health insurance to all full-time employees or face yearly penalties of up to $3,000 per employee) has been delayed until 2015, important considerations remain for businesses and consumers about how they will ultimately be affected by the Affordable Care Act ...
With the first annual Affordable Care Act open enrollment in the books (although the end of open enrollment is still something of a moving target – more on that later), everyone is examining, discussing, applauding and challenging the numbers. And there are a lot of numbers to consider: How many people signed up for health insurance coverage during open enrollment? How many of them went into Medicaid? How many of them are young, healthy people vs ...
If 2016 is memorable as a year of immense political upheaval, 2017 may offer more of the same. Already, in the first months of 2017, significant domestic political events have transpired, with the promise of more to come. These are events of significant consequence to specific companies, discrete industries and America’s global trading partners ...
The National Privacy Commission (NPC) has issued the implementing rules and regulations of the Data Privacy Act of 2012. The rules, promulgated on August 24, 2016, will take effect 15 days from publication in the Official Gazette. Download the Client Alert for more information on the new implementing rules for Philippine Data Privacy Act. This alert was authored by SyCipLaw partner Rose Marie M. King-Dominguez and associate Aaron Jeric M. Legaspi ...
On August 10, 2016, the Québec Court of Appeal authorized a class action pertaining to international roaming fees, thus reiterating, with renewed respect for the opposing view, that meeting the authorization threshold and the criteria respecting the representative's interest is fairly easy under Quebec law ...
Facebook recently won a landmark victory in the Ninth Circuit against a company that accessed Facebook’s computers to help users manage their social network accounts. Now the company, Power Ventures, Inc., says that the Ninth Circuit’s decision risks creating “widespread confusion” about when it is a crime to use a computer to access a website. The issue in Facebook, Inc. v. Power Ventures, Inc., No. 13-17102 (9th Cir ...
After the hospitality sector, transportation of passengers and corporate financing, insurance could be the next sector to see its business model influenced by the sharing economy. In the past few years, numerous start-up companies have launched businesses in "peer-to-peer" ("P2P") insurance on risksharing platforms, claiming to reduce bureaucracy and costs, and insure risks not covered by the traditional markets ...
According to latest news reports, Elektroprivreda Crne Gore (EPCG) has shown significant interest in buying a majority stake of the Montenegrin branch of Telekom Srbija – View More
Dear Sir or Madam,We are pleased to provide you with a brief overview of some recent significant amendments to the legislation in the area of data protection and privacy. The said amendments relate to counterterrorism set of bills (so-called “Yarovaya” law), introduction of the notion of news aggregators as well as restrictions on the activity of debt collectors ...
With ever-increasing malware, spear phishing and ransomware attacks on corporate America and ever-contracting terms insuring “cyber” liability under traditional insurance, more and more risk managers are venturing into the market for dedicated network security and privacy liability or “cyber” insurance. Others remain dubious—preferring “traditional” coverage to policies that are little understood and even less tested by claims ...
In 2015, according to Sensis, 56% of large and 31% of small-to-medium sized Australian businesses had a social media presence of some kind. Of these, more than half reported measuring the success of their social media investment by their numbers of 'likes', followers and subscribers ...
Many people could hardly imagine planning their vacations without considering online vacation rental community platforms. And those who have property available for use might find it just as difficult to resist the temptation to increase their revenues by advertising their room, apartment, house or country home on sites like Airbnb, Homeaway and Chaletsauquébec ...
In insurance law, as well as in other areas of contract law, the precise definition and scope of the terminology used in a contract are very important since they have a direct effect on the obligations of the parties and, in the case under review, the scope of the insurance coverage. On February 11, 2016, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal1 issued two judgments while it analyzed the scope to be given to some expressions inherent to insurance contracts ...
A recent wave of consolidation in the telecommunications sector has seen TPG Telecom acquire iiNet for $1.6 billion, Vocus Communications acquire Amcom Telecommunications for $653 million and Vocus acquire M2 Group in a 'merger of equals' valued at $3.0 billion. These three transactions have now created two industry powerhouses – TPG and Vocus. All three transactions were implemented by way of a scheme of arrangement between the notional target and its shareholders ...
In February 2016, a general collective agreement was signed between the Histadrut (the largest labor union in Israel) and the Presidium of Israeli Business Organizations (the umbrella organization of employers in Israel).The collective agreement will come into effect on July 1, 2016 and its provisions are expected to be applied by extension order to all employees in Israel ...
