Publications
Prior or Pending Litigation Exclusion Bars Coverage for Natural Resource Damages Claim
New York Law Journal
March 2023
In an article for the New York Law Journal titled “Prior or Pending Litigation Exclusion Bars Coverage for Natural Resource Damages Claim,” SRZ of counsel Howard B. Epstein and special counsel Theodore A. Keyes discuss prior or pending litigation exclusions in the context of environmental insurance.
The vast majority of courts construe insurance policy exclusions narrowly, placing the burden on the insurer to demonstrate that the exclusion applies and that there is no other reasonable interpretation of the relevant policy language. In the case of prior or pending litigation exclusions, the policyholder-insurer dispute is typically over whether a later filed claim arises out of the same subject matter or alleged activities as a prior or pending litigation.
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On June 28, 2024, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would amend existing anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”) program[1] regulations to require that financial institutions establish, implement and maintain effective, risk-based and reasonably designed AML/CFT programs with certain minimum components, including a mandatory risk assessment process (hereinafter, “Proposed Rule”).[2] For purposes of the Proposed Rule, “financial institutions” include: banks; broker dealers; mutual funds; futures commission merchants (“FCMs”) and introducing brokers in commodities (“IB-Cs”); insurance companies; money services businesses (“MSBs”); casinos and card clubs; dealers in precious metals, precious stones or jewels; operators of credit card systems; loan or finance companies; and housing government sponsored enterprises.[3] In addition to establishing minimum risk assessment requirements for these AML/CFT programs, the Proposed Rule would require that financial institutions document each component of their AML/CFT programs and make this documentation available to FinCEN or its designee, which can include the appropriate agency to which FinCEN has delegated examination authority,[4] or the appropriate SRO.[5] The Proposed Rule would also require that these AML/CFT programs be approved and overseen by the financial institution’s board of directors or, if the financial institution does not have a board of directors, an equivalent governing body.
Alerts
On June 28, 2024, the US Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that would amend existing anti-money laundering/countering the financing of terrorism (“AML/CFT”) program[1] regulations to require that financial institutions establish, implement and maintain effective, risk-based and reasonably designed AML/CFT programs with certain minimum components, including a mandatory risk assessment process (hereinafter, “Proposed Rule”).[2] For purposes of the Proposed Rule, “financial institutions” include: banks; broker dealers; mutual funds; futures commission merchants (“FCMs”) and introducing brokers in commodities (“IB-Cs”); insurance companies; money services businesses (“MSBs”); casinos and card clubs; dealers in precious metals, precious stones or jewels; operators of credit card systems; loan or finance companies; and housing government sponsored enterprises.[3] In addition to establishing minimum risk assessment requirements for these AML/CFT programs, the Proposed Rule would require that financial institutions document each component of their AML/CFT programs and make this documentation available to FinCEN or its designee, which can include the appropriate agency to which FinCEN has delegated examination authority,[4] or the appropriate SRO.[5] The Proposed Rule would also require that these AML/CFT programs be approved and overseen by the financial institution’s board of directors or, if the financial institution does not have a board of directors, an equivalent governing body.