While many countries have introduced far-reaching obligations to report cyber incidents, Switzerland has not yet followed this lead. However, on 13 December 2019 the Federal Council adopted a report which considers key issues with regard to the introduction of a general reporting obligation for operators of critical infrastructure. The report also discusses possible implementation models. A decision is expected by the end of 2020 ...
Yesterday, January 26, 2010, Judge David Hittner of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas issued an important opinion in the Stanford Financial case that paves the way for targets of criminal and civil enforcement proceedings to obtain insurance coverage for costs of defending themselves ...
In a recent opinion out of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras held that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) exceeded its authority when it substantially reduced the amount Medicare pays for 340B-acquired medications ...
On 28 May 2020 the Federal High Court (Bundesgerichtshof (“BGH”) handed down its judgment in the Planet49 case after a long legal dispute (we have already reported in detail on the previous instances including the judgment of the European Court of Justice). The Federal High Court’s judgement contains a large number of important statements which can only be fully assessed once the written grounds are published ...
FIFA Kickback and Bribery Allegations & Insurance For Related Third-Party Investigations Bribes of $40,000 stuffed in envelopes, a flight to Europe solely to retrieve a briefcase full of cash and a$10 million payoff to secure votes for choosing the World Cup host country are among the allegations in the recent indictment against FIFA representatives and related business associates ...
On March 1, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that $750 million of primary and excess coverage issued to Transocean Holdings, Inc. (“Transocean”) “imposes no relevant limitations upon the extent to which BP [BP American Production Company] is covered” as an additional insured in connection with the Deepwater Horizon incident in April 2010 ...
In a win for policyholders relying on multiple coverage layers, the Fifth Circuit held on June 23, 2014 that an excess liability insurance policy could be triggered by exhaustion of a “retained limit” - equal to the limits of underlying insurance - even if the amounts paid to meet the “retained limit” were not covered by the excess policy. Indemnity Insurance Co. of N. Am., et. al. v. W & T Offshore Inc., -- F.3d --, No. 13-20512 (5th Cir. June 23, 2014) ...
On 25 August 2022, the Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies published the Films and Publications Amendment Regulations, 2022, (“Regulations”) which came into effect on 2 September 2022. The Regulations provide clarity and guidelines regarding the implementation of the Films and Publications Amendment Act, 2019 that came into force on 1 March 2022 ...
In November 2019, the Financial Market Commission published, for public consultation purposes, a proposed amendment to its Updated Regulations Compendium (URC), by means of enacting a new Chapter 20-10, on Information Security Management and Cybersecurity (the New Regulation) ...
As a result of the evolution of the international epidemiological situation determined by the spread of SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus and considering the state of emergency declared by Decree no. 195/2020 on the establishment of the state of emergency on the territory of Romania, as well as its extension by Decree no. 240/2020 regarding the extension of the state of emergency on the territory of Romania, the Romanian Government recently issued the Emergency Ordinance no ...
The German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information (BfDI) sees the decision as a success: On November 11, 2020, the District Court of Bonn reduced the fine imposed on 1&1 Telekom GmbH for a data protection breach from an original EUR 9.55 million to EUR 990,000.00, thereby fundamentally calling into question the fine practices of the German supervisory authorities ...
The enactment of the General Data Privacy Regulations (GDPR) in the EU last year and the imminent proclamation of the effective date of South Africa’s own data privacy legislation, the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (“POPI”), has been the cause of disquiet for many organisations’ directors and compliance officers ...
Insurance is a part of virtually every transaction. Lenders want the security for a credit facility appropriately insured. Lessors and lessees alike want real and personal property protected by insurance. Buyers and sellers look to first-party and third-party policies to insure items sold and support the allocation of risk in indemnity provisions ...
While the worst of the housing crisis may be over, a significant number of existing foreclosures remain, and new foreclosures continue apace. According to RealtyTrac, there were 122,060 new foreclosure filings in March 2015,and there are 842,773 properties in the U.S. in some stage of foreclosure.For those properties that are subject to judicial foreclosure, many will involve borrowers, who have asserted a variety of counterclaims against the mortgagee ...
In a case of significance to property owners, contractors and real estate developers alike, a federal court in Florida recently rejected an insurer’s attempt to avoid coverage for $23 million of damage caused by defective work, finding that the policyholder’s claim raised several genuine issues of material fact. The case is Pavarani Construction Co. (SE) Inc. v. ACE American Insurance Company, Case No.14-cv-20524-KING (S.D.Fla., Feb. 25, 2015) ...
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 ...
As Hurricane Harvey continues to cause far-reaching disruptions, it is important to understand how to effectively assert or respond to assertions of force majeure. This summary outlines the steps to take to assert force majeure, and initial considerations for those who have received several notices of force majeure from counterparties ...
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, applying North Carolina law, held that a liability insurer may properly withdraw from the defense of its policyholder after obtaining a judicial declaration of no coverage, despite the policyholder’s pending appeal, provided the insurer offers to continue defending if the policyholder wins a stay of the trial court’s decision. Auto-Owners Ins. Co. v. Potter et al ...
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a lower court ruling finding that the placement of confidential patient medical records on the Internet qualifies as “publication” for purposes of an insurer’s duty to defend under a commercial general liability policy ...
On March 26th, 2024, the President of the Republic enacted the Framework Law on Cybersecurity and Critical Information Infrastructure (the "Law"), after having been generally approved by the Chamber of Deputies, and the preventive control of constitutionality carried out by the Constitutional Court was concluded ...
On May 16, 2016, the Québec Court of Appeal adjudicated1 on whether a professional liability insurer can plead the nullity of a policy based on misrepresentations or concealment of facts by the insured. This decision is of interest because it addresses the novel issue of whether a liability insurer can claim the nullity of an insurance contract where it is compulsory for the insured to hold such insurance under the applicable legislation ...
On February 2, 2005, the Court of Appeal rendered judgement in L’Union-vie, compagnie mutuelle d’assurance v. Laflamme1, and allowed the appeal of Union-Vie, the defendant in the case. In the court of first instance, Union-Vie had been ordered to pay insurance proceeds of $200,000 further to the death, on September 27, 2001, of the Plaintiff’s spouse, pursuant to a life insurance policy issued on the basis of an insurance application dated October 23, 1998 ...
