Burkhard Fassbach

In the following guest post, Burkhard Fassbach, a D&O lawyer in private practice in Germany, discusses the recent interesting development in German Courts with regards to the VW’s Dieselgate settlement with its D&O insurers. As discussed below, the relevant court has held that the settlement is “null and void” because, the court held, the proper processes were not followed in obtaining shareholder approval of the settlement. I would like to thank Burkhard 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 site’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Burkhard’s article.Continue Reading Guest Post: Dieselgate Landmark Victory for VW Minority Shareholders

In an interesting opinion, the Fifth Circuit has set aside a settlement and related bar order that had been approved by the district court in litigation arising out of the Stanford Financial Ponzi scheme scandal. The appellate court said that the district court lacked authority to approve the settlement in light of several of its features, including its provisions cutting off the claims of several former Stanford Financial employees and managers to the defunct firm’s insurance policies’ proceeds. As discussed below, the circumstances surrounding the settlement raise serious questions about the intended purpose of D&O insurance. The Fifth Circuit’s June 17, 2019 opinion in the case can be found here.
Continue Reading Who is D&O Insurance For?