Insurance IOI (Items of Interest) Blog

The Elephant in the Courtroom

July 2, 2012

In March of this year an eleven day hearing was conducted in New YorkSupreme Court for Nassau County to consider the rehabilitator’s petition to liquidate Executive Life Insurance Company of New York (ELNY) and approve his proposed restructuring plan.  The court issued a decision on April 17, 2012 approving the rehabilitator’s petition, determining that ELNY is insolvent, ordering it liquidated, and approving the proposed restructuring plan. 

In an article appearing in the June 2012 issue of AIRROC Matters, the magazine of the Association of Insurance and Reinsurance Run-Off Companies, I contend that the court’s approval of the petition and plan is far from a final resolution of the long ELNY saga. The Court’s ruling is more about the allocation of pain than a solution to the underlying problem. My article, The Elephant in the Courtroom, examines this underlying problem — the lack of accountability in the receivership process in New York — an issue that that remains unaddressed by the court ruling, the order of liquidation or the restructuring plan.The full article can be viewed online at the AIRROC website.

A Billion Here A Billion There

June 13, 2012

It is surprising enough that the $1.6 billion deficit in the Executive Life of NY rehabilitation receives so little media attention, but most people would also be surprised to know who will ultimately bear that loss. My current Insight column in the June 4 issue of Insurance Advocate magazine explores this issue as well as the consequences of ELNY on the NY State life guaranty funds. The column can be viewed on-line at:

http://www.insurance-advocate.com/A-Billion-Here-a-Billion-There-and-Pretty-Soon-Youre-Talking-Real-Money-c1349.html