Directors And Officers Liability In The Current Marketplace

Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance was at one time considered essential only for large public corporations. Now, no public limited company anywhere in the world should be without it. Large private companies, charities, financial institutions, pension funds and all executive directors need to consider the risks. It is a widely held isconception that legal action cannot be taken against individual directors of limited liability companies. Directors’ and officers’ liability insurance is one of the fastest growing areas in the world insurance market. Company directors are facing increasingly onerous resonsibilities as shareholders demand higher standards of corporate governence. Recent years have seen more stringent laws on environmental liability and directorial responsibility for pollution is now a global concern. This new edition will answer the questions: Just what are the personal liability risks facing directors? How can they protect themselves against the increasing possibility of being sued? What are the latest developments? Ian Youngman cuts through the jargon and explains the intricacies of this kind of cover and how it relates to other forms of insurance. He includes examples of claims, as well as profiles of insurers specialising in this area. He also assesses the current and likely future status of D & O cover in all the world markets.

“With the ever increasing number of claims against directors and officers, this book provides a very welcome addition to the bookshelves which hitherto have lacked books on this important area” - Alison Green, Chairman of the Trustees of the BILA Charitable Trust. This book scrutinises the origins and the rationale underlying D&O insurance, and provides answers to the question of protecting directors against the potential liabilities they may face. It provides clear understanding about D&O policies wording, exclusions and issues of misrepresentation. The information contained in this new book includes Nature and Legality of D&O Liability Insurance, D&O Exclusions, Directors’ and Officers’ Liability to Third Parties, Directors’ Liability at Civil Law, D&O: Defence Costs Cover and Allocation, Aggregation Principles and D&O Cover and the Reinsurance of D&O Policies.

Be it enhancements or restrictions, the scope of D&O policy coverage has reflected the corporate events of the time, most frequently as outlined in case decisions interpreting the same.

"Understanding and interpreting D & O liability and coverage issues involves studying the evolved terms of the corporate liabilities presented, the contract terms implicated and the case decisions interpreting those terms. Now updated, [this book] has evolved with the expansion of corporate liabilities, the terms of the policies at issue and the judicial interpretations as well. Use this book as a reference tool for navigating the current landscape, providing synopses of important judicial decisions (in various jurisdictions) on the key provisions that commonly arise. This book reflects on this history of directors and officers exposures and the insurance coverage called upon to address those risks. [This book] covers the following important issues: policy issuance; insuring agreements; trigger and scope of coverage; defense obligations; policy limits, retentions, and exclusions; settlement; allocation; policy termination and nonrenewable; coverage litigation issues; and recent developments in D & O liability abroad."--