Cybersecurity as a D&O Liability Issue: I have noted in prior posts on this site (refer for example here) that cybersecurity represents, among other things, a D&O liability exposure. The recent lawsuits filed against Target (refer here) and Wyndham Worldwide (refer here) underscore this point. In addition, at least according to a
D&O liability
Guest Post: Social Media and D&O Liability Exposures
Earlier this week I published a post on this site about the employment practices liability exposures that the social media may present for employers. After seeing my post, D&O maven Dan Bailey of the Bailey Cavalieri law firm send me a note pointing out that the social media also present D&O liability exposures for companies …
Guest Post: BSA/AML Enforcement Trends and D&O Liability
In the following guest post, Christopher Laursen, Senior Vice President and Chair, Financial Institutions and Bank Practice at NERA Economic Consulting, takes a look at the current enforcement trends involving the Bank Secrecy Act and the Anti-Money Laundering regulations. I welcome guest submissions from responsible persons on topics of interest to readers of this …
The Responsible Corporate Officer Doctrine Gets an Administrative Extension
One of the more troublesome trends in recent years has been the increasing willingness of lawmakers and regulators to try to impose liability on corporate officials without regard for the requirements of the corporate form and even without reference to whether the officials are culpable in any way. (Refer here for my most recent discussion…
D&O Insurance: Insured vs. Insured Exclusion Unambiguously Precludes Coverage for FDIC Failed Bank Lawsuit
One of the recurring D&O insurance coverage issues that has arisen during the current wave of failed bank litigation has been the question whether coverage for an action by the FDIC in its role as receiver of a failed bank against a failed bank’s directors and officers is precluded by the Insured vs. Insured exclusion…
Advisen Releases Private Company D&O Study
There is a great deal of information available about the liabilities of publicly traded companies, as well as about the D&O insurance implications arising from those liabilities. It can be a bit of a challenge to locate the same of information concerning private companies. For that reason, it is fortunate that Advisen and AIG have…
Protection for Public Company Directors and Officers: Indemnification and Insurance
In an environment where public company directors and officers face increasing scrutiny and expanding liability exposures, the indemnification and insurance protections available to them are increasingly important. A July 15, 2013 memorandum from the Gibson Dunn law firm entitled “Director and Officer Indemnification and Insurance – Issues for Public Companies to Consider” (here)…
D&O Insurers Fund Massive, Complicated Bankruptcy Settlement
The bankruptcy context is particularly ripe for D&O claims, and it also represents a particularly difficult claims context for D&O insurers. Anyone with any doubts about just how complicated bankruptcy claims can be will want to take a look at the settlement that the various concerned parties recently reached in the bankruptcy of defunct Florida…
Mutual Fund Directors in the Hot Seat?
Mutual fund directors have been attacked before. For example, in his 2002 letter to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, Berkshire chairman Warren Buffett took a detour in an essay about corporate governance to express concerns about mutual fund directors. He noted that mutual fund directors effectively have only two “important duties”; to pick the fund manager…
Failed Bank Directors’ and Officers’ Affirmative Defenses Against the FDIC Stricken
In order to try to defend themselves from claims asserted against them by the FDIC as receiver for a failed bank, the failed bank’s directors and officers often raise affirmative defenses, either based on pre-receivership conduct (as for example, in connection with pre-failure examinations) or post-receivership conduct (as for example in connection with the agency’s…