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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 May 2010
Professor Bob Baxt
reviews a recent appeals ruling that provides directors with a victory when it comes to seeking reimbursement for legal costs.
Getting legal costs back
Last year, in this column (Company Director, April 2009), we discussed the decision by Justice Flick in Motor Tra...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2009
Look before you leap
Directors cannot afford to get their D&O cover wrong, especially in the current economic climate. But Craig Claughton, NSW manager of the Financial and Professional Services Practice at Marsh, says they often fail to invest enough time in understanding how a D&O policy ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2009
Under the microscope
After a period of extreme economic uncertainty, rising insolvency rates and fears of mounting class actions, insurers are scrutinising the risks they cover more closely, including those of directors.
Mike Pryce, regional manager (Australasia) for financial lines at AIG, confirm...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2009
A range of experts discuss the shifts in the D&O insurance market in the wake of the global financial crisis and what these mean for directors looking for cover.
The changing D&O market
Craig ClaughtonNSW manager, Financial and Professional Services Practice,...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2009
Domini Stuart
investigates whether the rewards still outweigh the risks of being a non-executive director.
Is it worth being a NED?
Key points
Personal liability and reputational risks of being a NED are high
D&O insurance costs are rising and conditio...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jun 2009
Chris Townsend talks to
Tony Featherstone
about managing AIG Australia through a crisis, the lessons learned and what a surge in class actions means for D&O insurance policies.
Q&A with Chris Townsend
The global financial crisis has been hell for most CEOs, non...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Apr 2009
How do you respond to a regulator without breaching your duties to your company?
Professor Bob Baxt
reviews a recent case which provides some answers.
When the regulator knocks
The conflict of interest dilemmas directors face have often been discussed in these pages. The recent deci...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Mar 2009
Recent trends suggest the previously soft D&O market may be starting to harden. But
Mark Waller
and
Paul Miller
argue that there is still scope to negotiate favourable policy terms.
D&O Are you covered?
In recent years, we have seen a broadening of directors...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2009
Fred Hawke
explains why Side C insurance cover has become the albatross around directors’ necks.
The Side C aberration
An aberration has occurred in directors’ and officers’ or company reimbursement liability policies which include cover for the company’s own liabilities that may arise out ...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Feb 2008
Geoff Stevens
provides some guidance through the complex maze of director guarantees.
Don’t get tripped up by guaranteesAs a director, you will often be requested to provide guarantee support for your company’s obligations. This can be in the context of financial accommodation from a fina...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2007
Mark Parris explains why the shifting climate in the D&O market makes now a great time to re-negotiate your cover.
D&O’s climate change
Smart directors will take advantage of the current soft cycle in the D&O insurance market to ensure that they have insurance protection which p...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Jun 2007
Professor
Bob Baxt
provides an overview of recent court decisions affecting the role and responsibility of directors. Many of the matters examined in the Law Reporter are discussed in greater detail in The Baxt Report published by Thomson Publishing.
Is legal professional privilege...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Dec 2006
A common pitfall for directors with D&O insurance policies is that they do not realise they are not covered for a particular event until they try to claim. Emilios Kyrou, partner, Mallesons Stephen Jaques, identifies some undesirable gaps in D&O insurance policies and suggests how to overcom...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2006
News & Views
Hidden gaps in D&O insurance cover
Company directors are frequently unaware that their directors and officers policies often contain obvious and hidden gaps in cover. At the Directors and Officers Liability and Insurance Symposium in Sydney last month, the gaps were highlighted...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2006
Professor Bob Baxt examines a recent High Court ruling that could see more litigation against companies and directors.
Opening the litigation floodgates
The High Court of Australia in ‘ruling’ that litigation funding is prima facie ‘legal’ has delivered one of the most important judgements thi...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2006
A recent majority decision by the High Court upheld the legitimacy of the litigation funding model. According to S Stuart Clark and Michael Legg, in doing so it effectively endorsed the use of US style contingency fee agreements in Australia.
The continued rise of litigation funding
In 1992 t...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Aug 2006
by Charles Beelaerts
D&O insurance: are you getting value for money?
Over the past 12 months premiums for directors and officers liability insurance (D&O) have fallen 25 to 40 per cent and in some cases by 50 per cent. The cause of the fall is low claims costs and competition amongst i...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2005
The D&O reality test
By Ali Cromie
Some thought-starters for directors and officers. Q. Are you willing to risk all your personal assets? A. Yes or No
Q. Who do your trust to protect your personal assets in legal proceedings arising from your director or officer responsibilities? (a) yours...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2005
The D&O umbrella often has holes
You think you may be covered but when the litigation rain begins, your D&O umbrella may have holes in it. Ali Cromie* reports
Directors and officers liability insurance is “extremely complex” says insurance specialist, Andrew Strain, tapping into the emotions...
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Content Type:
CDM Article
01 Oct 2005
Insuring you get it right
‘My good friends, for the second time in our history, a British Prime Minister has returned from Germany bringing peace with honour. I believe it is peace for our time ... Go home and get a nice quiet sleep.” – Neville Chamberlain 1938.
Ever since Neville Chamberlain...