New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Nominates New DFS Superintendent

Governor Andrew Cuomo has nominated Maria T. Vullo as the new Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services. If confirmed by the New York State Senate, she would replace Benjamin Lawsky who resigned as Superintendent in June 2015.

Ms. Vullo, an experienced litigator, is currently of counsel at Paul Weiss in its New York City office. She has over 25 years of litigation experience at the trial and appellate levels including at the United States Supreme Court and in U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal around …

Continue Reading

New York Department of Financial Services Superintendent Continues Criticism of “Shadow Insurance” Transactions in Letter to U.S. Senate Committee

New York Department of Financial Services (DFS) Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky continued his attack against the use of so-called “shadow insurance” in an April 27, 2015 letter to the Honorable Sherrod Brown, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs. In the letter, Lawsky called on regulators to initiate measures to address this “textbook example of regulatory arbitrage in order to protect the efficacy of our state-based system of regulation” and hopes to stimulate a national debate on these issues.

Lawsky …

Continue Reading

Policyholders Join Regulators in Casting Light on Shadow Insurance

The issue of “shadow insurance” has been the subject of increasing regulatory and governmental scrutiny. Policyholders are now joining the effort via five class action lawsuits against three different insurance companies, MetLife, AXA Equitable and Lincoln National, for their use of shadow insurance.

Shadow insurance usually refers to an insurance company’s attempt to re-allocate reserve and collateral funds.  The New York State Department of Financial Services describes shadow insurance as follows:

In a typical shadow insurance transaction, an insurance company creates a “captive” insurance subsidiary, …

Continue Reading