Wilson Elser helps our clients envision, plan and execute a range of insurance-related transactions, including the formation of companies and purchasing groups as well as asset and stock purchase transactions.

Drawing on 45 years of related experience, our Insurance & Reinsurance Transactions Practice helps establish and license insurers, including life and property and casualty insurers and holding companies, insurance producers, claims adjusters and other service providers. We represent sellers and purchasers in asset and stock purchase transactions that involve insurance companies and companies serving the insurance industry. The team also handles statutory mergers.

Wilson Elser regularly assists clients with forming and registering purchasing groups. Our team is experienced in organizing U.S. branches of non-U.S. insurers as well as life insurance and property and casualty company subsidiaries in numerous states. In such cases, we complete the license applications that must be submitted in every state.

Clients appreciate our deep knowledge of insurance regulations across the nation. We guide them through the licensing process and help them comply with the wide-ranging state insurance codes and insurance department rules and regulations. We advise them on such regulatory questions as issuance of insurance-related products by non-insurers and the prohibitions against rebating, misrepresentation of policy benefits, improper use of credit information, unfair claims settlement practices, unfair methods of competition, and other unfair and deceptive trade practice issues.

Our extensive experience with insurance products, combined with our long-established credibility among New York and other state insurance regulators, makes us powerful advocates for clients who seek to launch innovative new products in the state. We are able to bring clients before regulators early in the process, giving them an opportunity to explain their product innovations and get preliminary feedback on any potential issues. This better equips clients to make go/no-go decisions, or address specific structural problems, before time and money are misspent on potentially noncompliant product designs.

We understand that the regulatory environment evolves quickly, with new risks of noncompliance arising every day. In response, our services include advising insurance companies and brokers on important corporate governance issues including, but not limited to:

• Compliance with the USA Patriot Act and Sarbanes-Oxley
• Privacy and HIPAA compliance
• Anti–money laundering regulations
• Compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act
• Regulation of viatical settlements and life insurance policy replacements
• Review of insurer and producer solicitation and advertising
• Using the internet in marketing insurance products. 

We also represent insurer clients in triennial examinations and audits, market conduct examinations, risk enterprise management audits and disciplinary matters.