Are You Confident Your D&O Insurance Policy Will Stand Up to These Challenges?

Directors and officers of both public and private companies operate in difficult, complex, and evolving business, legal, and regulatory environments. Challenges and risk exposures are unavoidable, and the speed of change shows no sign of slowing. Accordingly, it is imperative that directors and officers stay abreast of issues impacting the risk landscape and continually analyze how best to protect themselves. The recently released NACD Board Leadership report prepared with Marsh, “Evolving Directors & Officers Liability Environment Emerging Issues & Considerations,” identifies core areas of change and associated insurance concerns for directors & officers (D&O).

Four areas being closely watched today are discussed below.

Regulation

Securities regulations and resulting enforcement and claims will change over the course of President Trump’s administration, although the extent of the change remains to be seen. Deregulation for financial institutions and other organizations is likely. Although deregulation may ease the regulatory burden on businesses in an effort to stimulate growth, it could lead to a rise in resulting claims due a potential decrease in transparency and mandated corporate guidelines.

We may also see a shift in how government regulatory agencies handle purported wrongdoing—perhaps with the assessment of fewer corporate penalties while continuing to hold culpable individuals accountable. Based on some of the recent U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission appointments — including the SEC Chair and co-heads of the SEC Division of Enforcement —many expect that the agency will continue to aggressively pursue culpable individuals.

Climate Change

Generally speaking, activism is on the rise, including environmental activism, shareholder activism, and other forms. The first climate change-related securities class action was filed in late 2016, and more are expected to follow. Some anticipate that, as a result of the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, environmental activists’ drive to advance their agenda—whether through civil litigation, shareholder resolution initiatives, or other means—will increase. In addition, we expect there to be more initiatives driven by state regulatory actions and non-governmental organizations.

Increase in Securities Claims

According to NERA Economic Consulting, the number of securities class action filings in the first quarter of 2017 was significantly higher than in past years. The number for the first quarter of 2017 stood at 144 filings of federal securities class actions, which is up from 102 filings in the first quarter of 2016. If filings continue at this rate, we expect there to be close to 500 securities class action filings in 2017 alone, a 66 percent increase from 2016. The rise in filings can be attributed to several factors including, but not limited to: the increase in merger objection-related filings in federal court; the increase in the number of securities plaintiff firms; and, arguably, a race to the courthouse before any new regulatory changes are implemented.

Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity-related losses continue to be one of the most worrisome potential exposures for companies. Despite some significant recent cyberbreaches, the first traditional securities class action litigation against directors and officers was only recently filed. The complaint generally alleges that the defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements about the breach. It also claims failure to disclose material adverse facts about the company’s business and operations specific to data protection, and the discovery and potential impact of the data breaches.

On the other hand, there have been a number of derivative lawsuits filed against companies’ directors and officers for alleged mismanagement of cybersecurity incidents. To date, defendants in this type of litigation have largely been successful in getting these cases dismissed by invoking the business judgement rule, among other defenses. However, a notable, recent settlement of one of these derivative actions while on appeal will likely continue to fuel the plaintiff’s bar’s drive to pursue cybersecurity-related D&O claims.

Insurance Considerations

While each of the above can be viewed as discrete risks, they each share a common thread: increased exposure to directors and officers. As a best practice, all directors should regularly review their D&O insurance program with their insurance advisors to ensure adequate protection in the wake of the increasingly risky environment in which we live. Directors and the officers of their companies should ask themselves probing questions about their insurance coverage:

1. Does my D&O insurance program provide sufficient limits of liability?
2. Am I protected by Side-A Difference In Conditions insurance? If so, are those limits sufficient?
3. How will my D&O insurance coverage respond in connection with a regulatory investigation? Will I be covered to the extent there is an internal investigation associated with an external regulatory investigation?
4. Does the selection of insurers on my company’s D&O “tower” make the most sense should I need to turn to the insurers for coverage?
5. How narrowly tailored is the exclusionary language in my policies? How favorable is the severability language?

By reviewing these questions in conjunction with their insurance programs on at least an annual basis, directors and officers will be more adequately prepared for the scenarios outlined above.

Sarah Downey is the D&O Product Leader at Marsh.