Insurance Capital Markets

On July 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission released a staff report recommending that life settlements be clearly defined as "securities" for purposes of the federal securities laws in order to better protect investors.

The report was prepared by the Commission’s Life Settlements Task Force, which had been created in August 2009 to examine emerging issues in the life settlements market and to advise the Commission on the need to improve market practices and regulatory oversight. The Task Force is comprised of members from multiple divisions of the Commission, including Corporation Finance, Enforcement, Investment Management, and Trading and Markets.Continue Reading SEC Report Recommends Defining Life Settlements as “Securities”; GAO Releases Separate Study

Last week, through negotiations among the House of Representatives and Senate conferees on the financial services reform legislation, agreement was reached on the scope of a proposed insurance office within the U.S. Treasury Department to be led by a newly appointed Director.

The Senate Banking Committee, in its press release on progress on the draft

Ambac Financial Group, Inc., the parent of Ambac Assurance Corporation (AAC), announced yesterday that it had terminated all of its remaining exposure to collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) of asset-backed securities (ABS) totaling $16.4 billion. The termination or commutation involved entry by AAC into a settlement agreement with counterparties to outstanding credit default swaps with Ambac