Earlier this week, I published a post noting the challenges policyholders can face in establishing coverage under traditional crime and cyber liability insurance policies for losses arising from “payment instruction fraud” (sometimes called “social engineering fraud). I also discussed the recent availability of sublimited coverage extensions for these kinds of losses. In response to my earlier post, several readers sent me messages noting that several courts have, in fact, found coverage under commercial crime policies for payment instruction fraud losses. As if to prove their point, the same day as I published my post, the 11th Circuit issued an opinion affirming a district court ruling that a firm’s payment instruction fraud losses are covered under the “fraudulent instruction” provisions of the applicable commercial crime policy. The 11th Circuit’s December 9, 2019 opinion can be found here.
Continue Reading 11th Circuit: Crime Policy Covers Payment Instruction Fraud Loss
Court Rules Against NYAG in ExxonMobil Climate Change Disclosure Trial
In a lengthy and detailed post-trial opinion, New York (New York County) Supreme Court Justice Barry Ostrager has ruled that the New York Attorney General failed to establish that ExxonMobil Corporation made material misrepresentations in its public disclosures concerning how the company accounted for climate change risk. As discussed below, there are a number of interesting features to Justice Ostrager’s ruling. A copy of Justice Ostrager’s December 10, 2019 opinion can be found here.
Continue Reading Court Rules Against NYAG in ExxonMobil Climate Change Disclosure Trial
Payment Instruction Fraud and Cyber Insurance Coverage
As I have noted in prior posts, a recurring challenge many organizations face these days is the threat of “payment instruction fraud,” also sometimes called “social engineering fraud” or “payment impersonation fraud.” In these schemes scammers use official-seeming email communications to induce company employees to transfer company funds to the imposters’ account. Among the many issues arising when these kinds of scams occur is the question of insurance coverage for the loss. Some victims may expect that their cyber liability insurance will cover their loss.
However, as Lauri Floresca of Woodruff-Sawyer points out in her December 5, 2019 post on her firm’s blog entitled “Payment Impersonation Fraud: Why is This Common Cyber Problem Not a Valid Cyber Claim” (here), these claims rarely involve the kind of cyber security breach required to trigger cyber insurance coverage. Accordingly, there are other steps well-advised companies may want to take to try to protect themselves from these kinds of losses.
Continue Reading Payment Instruction Fraud and Cyber Insurance Coverage
Cyan Compels Remand of Previously Removed State Court Securities Suits
In prior posts, I have detailed the havoc that the U.S. Supreme Court’s March 2018 decision in the Cyan case has wrought, as Securities Act liability class action defendants find themselves facing multiple parallel suits in both federal and state court. A recent ruling in a consolidated federal court action involving the failed Miller Energy Company underscores the procedural disarray that Cyan continues to cause; in this case, the federal court, in reliance on Cyan, has remanded to state court two actions that pre-Cyan had been removed to federal court and consolidated with a third federal court action. As discussed below, this decision demonstrates yet another way in which Cyan produces outcomes contrary to procedural simplicity and judicial efficiency. Eastern District of Tennessee Judge Thomas Varlan’s December 6, 2019 decision in the case can be found here.
Continue Reading Cyan Compels Remand of Previously Removed State Court Securities Suits
Guest Post: Landmark UK Legal Statement Provides Clarity for Smart Contracts and Cryptoassets
In the following guest post, Karen Boto, Legal Director at Clyde & Co, takes a look at the Legal Statement recently published by the UK Jurisdictions Taskforce addressing a number of legal issues cryptocurrencies and smart contracts. A version of this article previously was published as a Clyde & Co client alert. I would like to thank Karen for allowing me to publish her article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Karen’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Landmark UK Legal Statement Provides Clarity for Smart Contracts and Cryptoassets
Guest Post: Is it Time to Revisit the Scope of D&O Coverage?
In the following guest post, John McCarrick and Paul Schiavone propose that as D&O insurers seek to return to profitability by raising prices, the insurers should also revisit many of the coverage extensions that have become standard in recent years. The authors present a “wish list” of specific items they suggest insurers might want to consider; the list itself is the result of the authors’ “anonymous survey” of insurer-side professionals. My commentary on the authors’ proposals follows below. John is a partner in the law firm White and Williams LLP and leads the Firm’s Financial Lines Practice Group. Paul is a Senior Vice President at Allianz, and is the Global Head of Alternative Risk Transfer and North American Head of Corporate Long Tail Lines. I would like to thank John and Paul for allowing me to publish their article on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is John and Paul’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Is it Time to Revisit the Scope of D&O Coverage?
SEC Public Company Enforcement Actions Highest in Ten Years
Due to an increase in the number of enforcement actions resulting from an agency initiative during the year, the number of enforcement actions brought by the SEC against public companies was at the highest level in at least ten years, according to a recent report. The report, entitled “SEC Enforcement Activity: Public Companies and Subsidiaries Fiscal Year 2019 Update,” which can be found here, was prepared by the NYU Pollack Center for Law & Business and Cornerstone Research. According to the report, the agency’s public company enforcement action monetary recoveries during the fiscal year were consistent with long-term averages. Cornerstone Research’s November 20, 2019 press release about the report can be found here.
Continue Reading SEC Public Company Enforcement Actions Highest in Ten Years
Guest Post: Pyrrhic Victory For Shareholders in Epic Credit Crunch Claim against Directors
In the following guest post, Francis Kean takes a look at the November 15, 2019 U.K. High Court of Justice (Chancery Division) judgment in the long-running HBOS acquisition-related lawsuits brought by a large group of shareholders against Lloyds Banking Group and its directors. As Francis discussed below, the judgment has significant implications for these kinds of actions under U.K. law. Francis is Executive Director FINEX Willis Towers Watson. I would like to thank Francis for allowing me to publish his article as a guest post on this site. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Francis’s article.
Continue Reading Guest Post: Pyrrhic Victory For Shareholders in Epic Credit Crunch Claim against Directors
A Rash of Cannabis-Related Securities Class Action Lawsuits
On November 21, 2019, when a plaintiff shareholder filed a securities class action lawsuit against Aurora Cannabis, Inc. and certain of its directors and officers, the company became the latest U.S.-listed Canadian cannabis company to be hit with a U.S. securities class action lawsuit. The lawsuit against Aurora came just one day after a different claimant launched a separate U.S. securities lawsuit against another Canadian-based and U.S.-listed cannabis company, Canopy Growth. These two companies join a growing list of cannabis-related firms that have been hit with securities suits this year. As discussed below, these cannabis-related company lawsuits are one of several factors contributed to the continued elevated level of securities class action lawsuit filings in the U.S.
Continue Reading A Rash of Cannabis-Related Securities Class Action Lawsuits
Seeking Insurance for Cybersecurity-Related Losses
Many of you probably saw the news this past week that Target has filed a lawsuit against one of its insurers over losses the company sustained in connection with the company’s 2014 data breach. The Target lawsuit is the latest in a series of high profile insurance battles in which companies are seeking to recoup losses resulting from cybersecurity incidents. However, as my friend, colleague, and Cyber insurance maven Mickey Estey pointed out to me, in its lawsuit Target is in fact not seeking to recover its claimed losses under a cyber insurance policy; rather, in its latest lawsuit, Target is seeking to recover for certain of its losses under its general liability policy. The Target lawsuit is only the latest in a series of high-profile insurance disputes in which companies that have sustained losses from a cybersecurity event are seeking coverage under a variety of different types of policies.
Continue Reading Seeking Insurance for Cybersecurity-Related Losses