Insurance and Reinsurance

Inside Stibbe - We are pleased to announce that Nynke Brouwer will be joining Stibbe’s Amsterdam office as senior associate. Her appointment as from 13 June 2022 will further strengthen our TMT/IP practice.

Articles - A warranty & indemnity (W&I) insurance covers damage resulting from breaches of warranties given in the SPA by the seller. W&I insurance has been around for many years, but it has become increasingly popular in the last few years. According to Lockton, “recent statistics suggest that over 50% of corporate real estate transactions in Europe now use W&I insurance, a large driver for this has been the adoption of a EUR 1 cap on sellers’ liability under the SPA.”

Articles - The Grand-Ducal Regulation of 15 February 2019 on the registration, payment of administrative fees and access to information recorded in the register of beneficial owners (the “RBE Regulation”) entered into force on 1 March 2019 and depicts the practical aspects of the Law of 13 January 2019 establishing a beneficial owner register (the “RBE Law”). Another document, the LBR Circular 19/01 (the “Circular”) issued by the Luxembourg Business Registers on 25 February 2019  further describes the new register of beneficial owners (the “RBE”) with the aim of helping users. 

Articles - In 2013, the European Commission adopted a Recommendation on Collective Redress. It invited Member States to adopt a collective redress framework by July 2016 that would include the features mentioned in the Recommendation and then by July 2017, to report to the Commission about the extent to which they had done so. On the basis of the Member States’ report, the Commission will assess whether further actions by the EU is required.

Short Reads - The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has found in a judgment of May 2020 that the right of a legal assistance insured person to freely choose his or her lawyer applies not only to proceedings before a court or an administrative body, but also to stages in a dispute that may lead to such proceedings before a court.

Conference - On the 17th of October, Glenn Heirman has been invited to speak at the Antwerp Liability Law and Insurance Chair (ALLIC) conference on the new rules on evidence.  

Articles - FSMA gives local guidance - Belgian legislature prepares contingency measures The UK is due to leave the European Union on 29 March 2019. Unless specific arrangements granting the UK at least a temporary status quo will be adopted before 29 March 2019, the UK financial industry will be considered third-country entities and will therefore be seriously restricted in carrying on their activities in the EEA, including Belgium.

Short Reads - In civil law many rules rely for their legal effect on the presence of certain knowledge or a certain intention with one of the parties. If the party at hand is a legal entity, like a limited company (besloten vennootschap), it can be difficult to determine what the entity knew. Fragments of information can be present in different parts of the organisation; an officer of the company may have gained his knowledge trough his private life; he may also have a duty of confidentiality.