Terrorism Insurance: Congress to the Rescue?
Laura E. Hannusch and Suneil M. Thomas of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
As the cost of terrorism insurance soared, many borrowers found it difficult to secure insurers willing to provide coverage for terrorism at reasonable rates. Prior to September 11, 2001, insurers and reinsurers did not deem the risk of terrorist attacks material enough to fashion exclusions for such events in all-risk insurance policies covering high-rise office buildings. The state of the insurance industry, however, underwent a dramatic change following the destruction of the World Trade Center. Due to the scale of damages and the unpredictability of future terrorist attacks, many reinsurers began refusing to renew coverage for terrorist attacks. In response, as primary all-risk policies came up for renewal, almost all primary property and casualty insurance carriers began to exclude terrorist acts from coverage. This exclusion forced commercial property owners to look to stand-alone terrorism coverage.
SEC Instructed to Review Public Company Ties to States Identified as Sponsoring Terrorism
Christopher J. Barry and Ryan Pardo of Dorsey & Whitney LLP
Public companies doing business with "terrorist-sponsoring states" may come under intensified scrutiny by the Securities and Exchange Commission due to a paragraph slipped into a conference committee report on a major appropriations bill recently passed by Congress. The relevant paragraph directs the SEC to establish an Office of Global Security Risk within the Division of Corporation Finance.
Summary of Encryption Policy Update
U.S. Department of Commerce
This document is an overview of the rules applying to export of software with encryption capabilities.
Inventory of State and Local Law Enforcement Technology Needs to Combat Terrorism
Department of Justice
This article summarizes the first phase in a two-phase project sponsored by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996.
SAFETY Act Provides Sweeping Liability Limitations for Qualified Anti-Terrorism Products and Services
Jacob B. Pankowski of Nixon Peabody LLP
On July 11, 2003, the Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") issued its long-awaited proposed rule to implement Subtitle G of the Homeland Security Act of 2002, titled "Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies Act of 2002" (the "SAFETY Act").
An Overview of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002
Sherilyn Pastor,Ira Gottlieb and Pranita A. Raghavan of McCarter & English, LLP
On November 26, 2002, President Bush signed into law the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002. The Act, which takes immediate effect, serves as a financial backstop, enabling commercial insurers to provide affordable terrorism coverage to policyholders. It is expected to benefit businesses that were unable to obtain terrorism coverage after September 11, 2001.