Moore v. National Distillers & Chemical Corp.

143 F.R.D. 526, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12370, 1992 WL 238181
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedAugust 14, 1992
DocketNo. 91 Civ. 2901 (JSM) (KAR)
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 143 F.R.D. 526 (Moore v. National Distillers & Chemical Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Moore v. National Distillers & Chemical Corp., 143 F.R.D. 526, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12370, 1992 WL 238181 (S.D.N.Y. 1992).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

KATHLEEN A. ROBERTS, United States Magistrate Judge:

Presently before the court is a motion by the defendant retrocessionaires to be relieved of the requirement that they post pre-answer security pursuant to N.Y. Ins. Law § 1213(c)(1).

For the reasons set forth below this motion is denied except as to defendants Ban-co de Seguros del Estados; Instituto De Resseguros Do Brasil; and Grupo de Empresas Seguradoras Brasileiras. The motion is denied as to defendant Chung Kuo Insurance Company unless it submits within twenty days an affidavit demonstrating its status as a foreign state.

Background

This action arises from the liquidation of Delta America Re Insurance Company (“Delta Re”), an insolvent reinsurance company chartered under the laws of Kentucky and authorized to do business in New York. Plaintiff, Commissioner of Insurance of the Commonwealth of Kentucky 1 is the statutory liquidator of insolvent domestic insurers in Kentucky and was therefore appointed by the Kentucky Circuit Court to supervise the dissolution of Delta Re.

Delta Re’s parent company is Delta Holdings, Inc. (“DHI”). DHI acquired Elkhorn Insurance Company (“Elkhorn”) from National Distillers and Chemical Corporation (“NDCC”) on September 30,1983,2 and subsequently changed Elkhorn’s name to Delta Re. NDCC changed its name to Quantum Chemical Corporation on January 4, 1988.

There are now five actions in this court brought by the Liquidator of Delta Re. Two of these, Moore v. American Risk Management, Inc., et al., 89 Civ. 2999 (JSM) (KAR) and Moore v. National Distillers and Chemical Corp., et al., 91 Civ. 2901 (JSM) (KAR), relate to Delta Re’s role as a purchaser of reinsurance from the defendant retrocessionaires.3

In this action, plaintiff is suing NDCC on the ground that NDCC received dividends from Elkhorn/Delta Re prior to the sale to DHI that were unlawfully paid because they were based upon material misrepresentations regarding Elkhorn/Delta Re’s financial position. Plaintiff also contends that NDCC failed to exercise reasonable care in the selection and supervision of Elkhorn/Delta Re employees. Plaintiff is also suing the defendant retrocessionaires that reinsured Elkhorn/Delta Re prior to 1984 on the grounds that they have failed or otherwise refused to pay reinsurance recoverables currently due Delta Re. In the event the defendant retrocessionaires are found entitled to avoid their treaty obligations to Delta Re, plaintiff asserts an [529]*529alternative claim against NDCC and Delta Re’s former managers on the grounds that their acts and omissions constituted a breach of various statutory, contractual or common law duties. The defendant retrocessionaires have filed a cross-claim against NDCC and Robert E. Norton4 alleging fraud, negligent misrepresentation, and breach of fiduciary duty.

Prior Proceedings

This action was originally filed in Kentucky state court in 1986. The defendant retrocessionaires were added to the action by the Second Amended Complaint which was served in December, 1988. In January 1989, the case was removed to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Frankfort Division (“EDKY”) by defendant retrocessionaires El Banco de Seguros del Estado and COSESP, pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1441(d) and § 1603 (the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”)). The EDKY remanded the case back to the Kentucky state court on the grounds that the contract signed by the defendants had effectively waived their right to removal. In March 1990, the defendant retrocessionaires successfully appealed this decision to the Sixth Circuit, which reversed the district court and remanded the case to the EDKY for further proceedings. In re Delta America Re Insurance Co., 900 F.2d 890 (6th Cir.1990), cert. denied, — U.S.-, 111 S.Ct. 233, 112 L.Ed.2d 193 (1990). A prior motion to transfer venue to the District Court for the Southern District of New York (“SDNY”) was then revived, and this case was transferred pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1404(a) in 1991.

Prior to the transfer, the defendant retrocessionaires served a joint answer to the Second Amended Complaint in April 1989 and an amended answer in May 1989. At no time during the more than two years that this action was pending in the Kentucky state or federal courts did the liquidator ever demand that the defendant retrocessionaires post pre-answer security for judgment.

Retrocessionaires’ Motion to be Relieved from Pre-Answer Security

Section 1213(c)(1) provides that:

Before any unauthorized foreign or alien insurer files any pleading in any proceeding against it, it shall either:
(A) deposit with the clerk of the court in which the proceeding is pending, cash or securities or file with such clerk a bond with good and sufficient sureties, to be approved by the court, in an amount to be fixed by the court sufficient to secure payment of any final judgment which may be rendered in the proceeding, but order dispensing with such deposit or bond if the superintendent certifies to it that such insurer maintains within this state funds or securities in trust or otherwise sufficient and available to satisfy any final judgment which may be entered in the proceeding, or
(B) procure a license to do an insurance business in this state.

N.Y.Ins.Law § 1213(c)(1), McKinney’s (1985 and Supp.1992).

In an Opinion and Order dated July 20, 1990, in Morgan v. American Risk Management, Inc., 89 Civ. 2999 (JSM), 1990 WL 106837 (“the ARM order”), I ruled that § 1213(c)(1) required the defendant retrocessionaires in that case to post pre-answer security, rejecting the argument that retrocessionaires are not subject to the provisions of § 1213(c)(1). I also found that the Liquidator is entitled to the protections of New York Ins. Law § 1213 and has standing to demand compliance with the preanswer security provisions of § 1213(c)(1).

In this action, the moving defendant retrocessionaires attempt to distinguish themselves from the defendant retrocessionaires in ARM with respect to the applicability of § 1213(c)(1). The defendant retrocessionaires claim that § 1213(c)(1) is not applicable for a number of reasons, some already discussed in the prior order, and some unique to the moving defendant retrocessionaires.

[530]*530Among the claims unique to the moving defendant retrocessionaires in this motion are the following:

(1) the claim that because this action, unlike ARM, was originally brought in Kentucky state court, Kentucky state law should be applied, and that under Kentucky law, the moving defendant retrocessionaires would not be required to post pre-answer security;

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Enron Equipment Procurement Co. v. THE M/V TITAN 2
82 F. Supp. 2d 602 (W.D. Louisiana, 1999)
Allstate Insurance v. Snappy Car Rental, Inc.
16 F. Supp. 2d 410 (S.D. New York, 1998)
Lakehead Pipe Line Co. v. American Home Assurance Co.
981 F. Supp. 1205 (D. Minnesota, 1997)
Signal Capital Corp. v. Eastern Marine Management, Inc.
899 F. Supp. 1167 (S.D. New York, 1995)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
143 F.R.D. 526, 1992 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 12370, 1992 WL 238181, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/moore-v-national-distillers-chemical-corp-nysd-1992.