Corporate Risk

With new coverages evolving and the SEC setting its sights on increased enforcement activities, specialty insurance coverage for regulatory investigations is a hot topic among buyers and sellers of management liability insurance. Brokers assess the options and price trends.

Unlike last year’s flood of “pre-claim inquiry” offerings that focused on coverage for the investigation-response costs of individual executives and directors, Chartis’ new “Investigation Edge” offering, a standalone policy introduced in March, addresses corporate costs, including the massive expenses associated with producing documents required by the Securities & Exchange Commission.

For public companies navigating the continuing fallout from the global financial meltdown, dealing with regulatory investigations is about as inevitable as death and taxes. D&O insurance products are evolving to cover some of the costs.

A German insurance company says it organized an orgy with prostitutes in a renowned Hungarian spa to reward its best salesmen.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it expects 12-18 named storms during the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season, which begins in less than two weeks.

Organizations facing a growing number of global crises are wary of breaks in their supply chain, stockpiling critical items and commodities, and sometimes resorting to “panic buying,” according to a risk-management expert.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. said Tuesday that its chief risk officer will retire in the fourth quarter of this year and it is launching a search for a successor.

While at the RIMS 2011 conference in Vancouver, we talked pricing, emerging risks, competitive advantages and industry-wide challenges with Hank Watkins, president of Lloyd's North America, Tim McAuliffe, president of specialty casualty at Ironshore and Rudi Flunger, chief marketing officer of Swiss Re Corporate Solutions.