Insights

Broker dealers and investment banks operate in an extremely litigious environment resulting in costly E&O insurance premiums and large retentions. Even when firms operate at the highest standards, misstatements and errors of its registered reps create vicarious liability and generate claims involving failure to supervise. Statistically 70-80% of all claims are brought against the firm – either solely, or alongside the registered rep involved.

When structuring D&O, E&O or Cyber insurance for an acquisition, there are 2 distinct time periods: 1) wrongful acts or incidents that occurred before the acquisition, and 2) those that occur after the acquisition. Most insurers will provide the purchasing company with automatic coverage for newly acquired subsidiaries, however they only agree to provide such coverage for (future) wrongful acts asserted after the acquisition date.

Co-Published with Geoffrey Fehling and Michael Levine, Partners at

Insurance Premiums only ever seem to increase. Here are some tips for manufacturers, distributors, retailers and wholesalers, looking to reduce their premiums.

When cyber incidents affect investment banks, advisors, and broker-dealers, the resulting damages are often significant, given the transactions involved. Few industries are more susceptible to such large damages. Most financial firms are already very aware of the risk and the importance of cyber insurance. One of the most overlooked benefits of maintaining a cyber policy, is the comfort of having a response team at the ready. Cyber incidents are chaotic and can create significant confusion.

As an M&A consultant or broker-dealer / investment bank providing M&A advisory services, implementing a well-structured insurance program is critical. Navigating the different insurance solutions however can be a bit dizzying.

Medical practices and healthcare facilities are subject to some unique litigation. When structuring insurance for healthcare institutions, policyholders should be acutely aware of these unique risks and whether or not their D&O, E&O, or other specialized policies, will respond when such claims arise.
 

When structuring D&O insurance, one of the most difficult questions to address is, how much is enough? You’ll often hear brokers referring to limit adequacy or insufficiency, but what exactly is an adequate limit? When deciding on an optimal limit, there are a number of factors that can affect both the likelihood of a claim, and the potential severity of a claim, both of which need to be considered when structuring coverage.

When going to market for professional and management liability insurance, most policyholders, brokers and attorneys, go to great lengths to assess policy terms, and rightfully so. Of secondary importance however, is assessing the insurer itself - as task that too often gets overlooked. Here are some considerations for policyholders when underwriting prospective carriers.

Cyber risk is a broad term, often used to refer to a wide range of computer, and digital/online related claims. Some of these claims have been traditionally insured under typical liability and property policies for years, which gave rise to the term "silent cyber coverage". With cyber insurance now a mature product, many carriers are developing firmer lines in the sand, eliminating any silent cyber within their forms, clearly isolating the risks they insure, however there are still many cyber risks that can be insured both on and off cyber policies.