Risk Retention Groups

ELECTIVE COURSE

5 CPE credits are available for the successful completion of this course.

This course will focus on the risk retention group insurance alternative under the federal Liability Risk Retention Act (“LRRA”). These insurance vehicles enjoy a strong advantage over traditional insurance carriers, in that the LRRA allows them to write directly, without multi-state licensing. We will explore the risk retention group concept, under what circumstances a captive should consider the RRG structure, why it works, and why risk retention groups should not be subject to traditional insurance regulation.

Risk retention groups do most, if not all, of their business in states other than their state of domicile. Except for enumerated exceptions, the non-domiciliary states must rely on the charter state to properly regulate the group and protect the policyholder interests. The LRRA is a powerful exception to the McCarran-Ferguson Act, in that it preempts all regulation outside of the state of domicile except for limited exceptions enumerated in the LRRA. This course will look at the exceptions behind the scenes, and reveal their true nature and depth.

In its 2005 report to Congress, the GAO asked whether the LRRA governance requirements, coupled with the partial preemption from state insurance regulation, have left risk retention groups vulnerable to mis-governance. This course will look at the many NAIC regulatory initiatives kindled by the 2005 report and will also explore the results of the second GAO report on RRG’s issued in January 2012. The instructors will explore the ways in which non-domiciliary states are abusing risk retention groups and clearly exceeding their limited empowerment under the LRRA and potential RRG responses to non domiciliary state overreaching. These abuses include:

• Registration requirements and waiting periods beyond the pure notice filing contemplated by the LRRA
• Registration fees, annual filing fees, and other miscellaneous fees and taxes charged
• Rate review and/or local capital requirements enforced under the guise of determining whether a risk retention group is in “hazardous financial condition”
• The sometimes gaping hole left under the financial responsibility exception to the LRRA preemption, as balanced by the anti-discrimination provisions of the Act
• The recent medical malpractice closed claim

Next Course begins in April 2016

Online Course (broadband Internet connection recommended)
Instructors: Jon Harkavy, Stephanie Mapes & Skip Myers

In addition to self-paced reading and assignment work, students will be required to attend three webconference sessions and complete two weeks of follow up assignments.

Registration Deadline:  April 22, 2015

Webconference one, Wednesday, April 27th   2:30-3:45 p.m. EDT

Webconference two, Wednesday, May 4th  2:30-3:45 p.m. EDT

Webconference three, Wednesday, May 11th 2:30-3:45 p.m. EDT

Office Hour ,Wednesday, May 18th  2:30-3:30 p.m. EDT

For further details please contact at ICCIE at 802-651-9050.

To see when this course will be taught again go to the course schedule page