Directors And Officers Liability

This book examines such topics as: the risks officers and directors face, derivative and class actions, and when a corporation is required--or allowed-- to provide indemnification.

Real-world war stories from the front lines of D&O Insurance to illustrate the importance of various principles. The book contains a chapter of career advice from more than 60 senior insurance executives, including 25 current or former CEOs. Respected leaders such as Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, Brian Duperreault, Stephen Way, Dinos Iordanou, Kevin Kelley and many others provide their unique insights on career advancement.

“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.

In recent years several cases concerning the liability of directors and officers have courted controversy. Arguments raised in such discussions oscillate between two extremes: on the one hand, the need for governing bodies to give a space to entrepreneurial discretion and on the other hand to ensure the protection of investors in and creditors of a company from the consequences of disadvantageous decisions by those bodies. In light of the geographical dispersal of the above stakeholders, the study offers a comparative insight into the liability of directors and officers in 10 key European jurisdictions (in particular, Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain and Switzerland) and 4 non-European jurisdictions (namely Brazil, Israel, Turkey and the United States). Amongst other things it investigates existing company law principles on the topic and examines their interaction with tort law and other fields with a view to suggesting principles for better stakeholder protection. National reports are complemented by an economic analysis and insurance, conflict of laws and comparative reports. The study also benefits from case study analyses.

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.