The Big Sky
Conferees met Sunday to greet old and new friends. In the late afternoon a "Welcome to Montana" reception and barbecue was held at the Eagle Bend Yacht Harbor. We returned to the Outlaw Inn for a terrific Welcome to Montana Media Show. The entertainment was provided by Rob Quist and the Great Northern Band and spoke to the Montana experience.
On Monday, after a buffet breakfast, we were welcomed by Montana Surplus Line Association President Tom Daniel and Montana State Insurance Commissioner Mark O'Keefe. Mr. Andrew Duguid, Director of Policy and Planning and Secretary to the Counsel of Lloyd's of London, provided the attendees with some very straightforward comments concerning the restructuring of Lloyd's. Using a slide presentation he outlined the collection use and distribution of future funds to ensure the well-being of Lloyd's and its policy holders. He explained the EQUITAS Project--a program to "incorporate" Lloyd's long tail liabilities into a single corporate entity. This requires a two-phase restructuring process to reinsure "Names" and specifically their liabilities for all Lloyd's policies written up to 1985. Data bases will collect and collate the information. to establish a separately capitalized reinsurance company to reinsure the liabilities of the "old years" The result will be control of the problems of the past and ensure the future. Funds will continue to come from a smaller cadre of syndicates and insurance companies interested in investing.
Monday afternoon a bus tour to glacier Park was offered. One of the most natural settings left in North America, the park still looks much as it did when the glaciers began receding 10,000 years ago.
Tuesday the second general session featured an insurance commissioners panel featuring Mark O'Keefe, of Montana; Lee Douglass, of Arkansas; Robert Wilcox, of Utah; and Glenn Pomeroy, of North Dakota, and moderated by Donald Greene of Leboeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae. Panelists discussed the differences of opinion and requirements in the various states they represented.
The final session, and perhaps the most interesting, concerned insurance fraud. A panel comprised of members of the U.S. Department of Justice involved in national and international Insurance Fraud included Robert Litt, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, U.S. Department of justice, Charles Owens, Section Chief Financial Crime Section, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Karen A. Morrisette, IFWG Chief, Deputy Chief, Fraud Section Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice. These dedicated individuals are devoted to finding and prosecuting insurance fraud schemes and their perpetrators. The Department of justice has recently centralized into one unit, the point of which is to share information which will enhance the opportunities for prosecution. Additionally, they are now able to extradite criminals who have fled to another country. They provided us with a synopsis of statues which arc applicable to insurance fraud and other documents relative to money and finance frauds, mail frauds, money laundering and more. There are approximately seventy-five to eighty attorneys scattered throughout the United States assigned to the Insurance Fraud Working Group (IFWG).
Their message is clear: they arc dedicated, serious, and ready to put an end to insurance fraud, and they need your help. A Department of justice Insurance Related Criminal Referral Form can be completed by anybody who suspects or is aware of insurance fraud. The Surplus Line Association of California is dedicated to the exposure of fraud and is working closely with officials and others in this endeavor. Rest easy with the knowledge that if you have information you can share it with the Department of justice and remain anonymous. Let's give them some help.
Next year it's our turn to host the Western States Conference, to be held July 20~-24, 1996, at La Costa Resort & Spa, Carlsbad, California. It is a great way to update yourself on what's happening in our industry, while greeting colleagues and having fun. Mark it on your calendar.