Insurance

Clifford Chance's preeminent Global Insurance Industry Sector Group is comprised of leading lawyers from among its corporate banking & finance, capital markets, M&A, regulatory, dispute resolution, anti trust, tax, real estate, pensions and employment teams. Our clients include property and casualty insurers and reinsurers, participants in the Lloyd's market, life insurers and reinsurers serving domestic and international markets, mutuals and on and offshore captives, insurance and reinsurance brokers, underwriting agencies and specialist advisers to the insurance industry.

Insurance M&A, corporate reorganisations, joint ventures and new business ventures 

The expansion of insurance markets into Central & Eastern Europe, Asia, India and the Middle East is presenting insurers with new vistas and growth opportunities, but equally challenging environments to do business.  Clifford Chance has significant experience in guiding our insurance clients through these issues, including establishing offices and obtaining licences, establishing distribution and agency networks, joint ventures, and mergers and acquisitions. 

Clifford Chance has a prominent position in M&A for the insurance industry, acting on both the buy and sell side, from business sales involving portfolio transfers of books of business to international public and private transactions involving co-ordinating sales of group companies in a number of jurisdictions.  We can put together a team with the right mix of skills and geographic coverage to meet your needs.

Insurance regulation

Keeping up with the pace of regulatory change in the current charged business and political environment is one of the greatest challenges facing any insurance company.  We are at the forefront of the regulatory developments presenting insurance companies with opportunities and challenges, first and foremost in the EEA Solvency II.  We advise extensively on insurance regulation in key markets in Europe, US and Asia.  Current topics of interest include regulatory capital requirements, the Reinsurance directive, corporate governance and risk management in the insurance industry, the mediation directive, principles based regulation, treating customers fairly (TCF), admissible assets, foreign investment rules and antitrust legislation. 

We have excellent working relationships with key financial services regulators, including the SEC, FSA, BaFin and other European and Asian regulators, making us ideally placed to advise you on EU Directives as well as local regulations.

Insurance and reinsurance dispute resolution, restructuring and insolvency

When a dispute arises, you need someone who can help achieve a good, speedy and cost-effective outcome.  We have handled all aspects of insurance and reinsurance disputes, claims and coverage work, including domestic and cross-border litigation, international fast-track arbitrations and mediations.  We have represented major insurers in energy infrastructure insurance coverage claims, reinsurance disputes, commercial disputes arising the from the sale and purchase of insurance businesses, political risk, D&O, warranty and indemnity insurance, liquidated damages insurance, mis-selling claims and business interruption claims. We have also advised on a broad range of insurance corporate restructurings, reorganisations and formal contentious and non-contentious insolvency work.  We have advised on some of the largest and most complicated Part VII transfers in the industry, providing advice on the nature of policyholders' interests and on governance issues. 

Raising capital for insurers

With bank lending still to fully re-emerge from the credit crunch, raising capital has become a primary focus of any business, insurers included.  Clifford Chance can handle all legal and regulatory aspects of raising capital, issuing securities and alternative mechanisms to transfer risk for insurers.  Our  Global Insurance Industry Sector Group has a market leading multi-disciplinary team of capital markets and regulatory experts in the field of insurance linked securities (ILS), who also cover securitisation and structured debt, derivative products (including ISDA and OTC derivatives), investment funds, reinsurance and financial reinsurance.  We have worked on a number of regulatory capital raisings for insurers, including innovative tier 1 issues, and have devised several structures for securitising or monetising embedded value.