Originally published in Insurance Law360

In the recent decision Scandinavian Reinsurance Co. Ltd. v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance Co., 668 F.3d 60 (2d Cir. 2012), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a reinsurance arbitration award despite claims of evident partiality on the part of members of the arbitral panel.

The court found the failure of two members of the arbitration panel to disclose they concurrently served on an arbitration panel in a similar reinsurance case did not constitute “evident partiality” within the meaning of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) sufficient to justify vacatur of the arbitration award.