During two weeks in April, two different courts — the Second Circuit and the New Jersey Superior Court — considered nearly identical allegations regarding variable products and reached diametrically opposed conclusions about...more
In EFG Bank AG, Cayman Branch v. AXA and The Duffy 2004 LLC v. AXA, in a February 14 ruling, AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company earned a sweet victory on its motion for partial dismissal of the complaints in two...more
Suits challenging insurers’ cost of insurance (COI) rate increases continue to generate much activity. In recent months, this activity has included transfers, consolidations, several actions that are inching closer to...more
Starting in 2015 and continuing into 2016, a number of insurance carriers raised the cost of insurance ("COI") rates on universal life insurance policies, resulting in dramatic increases to the premiums required to keep the...more
As illustrated by the two examples here, recent decisions on preliminary motions seeking to dispose of or narrow the scope of claims challenging COI rate determinations suggest the industry may be enmeshed in litigation for...more
In a summary order issued February 23, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of two so-called “shadow insurance” putative class action lawsuits — Ross v. AXA Equitable Life Insurance...more
Investment Adviser AXA Wins Excessive Fee Trial - A federal judge in New Jersey has ruled in favor of AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company (AXA Equitable) and its wholly owned subsidiary, AXA Equitable Funds Management...more
In its 2010 opinion in Jones v. Harris, L.P., the United States Supreme Court embraced the so-called Gartenberg standard for assessing an investment adviser’s fiduciary liability for excessive mutual fund fees under Section...more
The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey issued its post-trial ruling on August 25, 2016 in Sivolella v. AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company—the first Section 36(b) trial decision since 2009. The Court...more
The fund manager was victorious in the first court decision to come from a group of complaints filed over the last several years against manager-of-manager models. Introduction - Following a 25-day bench trial, the...more
Historically, increases to cost of insurance (COI) rates on universal life (UL) policies have been met with legal challenges from policyholders, and sometimes, regulatory opposition spurred by policyholder complaints. The...more
The Southern District of New York recently granted defendant’s motion to dismiss a putative class action claiming that AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company breached its contractual obligation by implementing a volatility...more
A federal district court in New York enforced an ERISA retirement plan’s forum selection clause and transferred the case to the District of New Jersey. The plaintiff argued that the forum selection clause was invalid because...more
Plaintiffs' lawyers have been challenging cost-of-insurance (COI) charges for years, with mixed results. The following outline reviews the most recent flurry of cases. ...more
There have been several new class actions filed recently challenging “shadow insurance” transactions between life insurance companies and their “captive reinsurers.” Three of those class actions are in federal court in New...more
Below is an update on the "excessive fee" cases under section 36(b) of the Investment Company Act of 1940. Most of these complaints are now proceeding on the "sub-adviser" theory: that annuity contract-holders pay...more
Plaintiffs alleged that AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company violated New York insurance law prohibiting misrepresentations by insurers of their financial condition, because AXA had not disclosed “shadow transactions” in its...more
Two recent Consent Orders issued by the New York State Department of Financial Services against major insurers appear to signal the Department’s enhanced focus on insurers’ detailed compliance with regulatory requirements....more