Fiduciary

  • (p54) - 1:34-1:41 - Eric DINALLO, Superintendent, New York State Insurance Department - Well, I think it’s important for everyone to know there’s a very strong tension between policyholders’ interest and shareholders’ interest in a publicly traded company.
    • The board and management has a fiduciary interest to shareholders under our law, fiduciary interest to shareholders, but, at the same time, whenever they release capital to satisfy that to get a bigger return on equity, they are necessarily taking incremental protection against policyholders.
  • Bruce BRALEY (D-IA) -  And you also have a fiduciary obligation to policyholders under their contractual obligation with the policyholder.
  • Mr. DINALLO. Sadly, there is some debate, actually, because they’ve been so trained under our law and after Enron, etc., to worry about fiduciary duty to shareholders that there is a good argument that, although it’s in their blood to worry about policyholders, the legal requirements are a little bit gray, actually.

 GOV (House-OGR) - The Causes and Effects of the AIG Bailout- AIG Bailout Oversight Hearing, Henry Waxman (D-CA)  ---  [BonkNote]

  • Plaintiff claims that Defendants breached a fiduciary duty. (See generally Doc. No. 1-2.)
    • However, while the insurer-insured relationship contains many elements of a fiduciary relationship, “‘the [California] courts which have directly addressed the issue ... have specifically held that there is no fiduciary duty between an insurer and an insured.’” 
      • General American Life Ins. Co. v. Rana, 769 F. Supp. 1121, 1126 (N.D. Cal. 1991) (quoting Hassard, Bonnington, Roger & Huber v. Home Ins. Co., 740 F. Supp. 789, 792 (S.D. Cal. 1990)).
    • Thus, as no fiduciary duty exits, Plaintiff cannot plead a breach of fiduciary duty.

2019 - LC - Openiano v. Hartford Life and Annuity Insurance Company - 18-cv-0943 - D35 - Order Defendants' Motion for Judgement on the Pleadings, District Court, Southern District of California - 11p