by John Darer® CLU ChFC MSSC RSP CLTC
The class action lawsuits against Ringler Associates and EPS Settlements over Executive Life Insurance Company of New York era annuity placements, raise issues apart from the standard of care issues being raised, that I covered in the preceding post.
It is an irrefutable fact that a lawsuit was filed in November 2012 against the New York state regulators alleging that ELNY was solvent at the time it was taken over by the regulator in April 1991 and that the ELNY estate was mismanaged by those in charge of its rehabilitation over the following 20+ years.
A class action lawsuit against DFS Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky and former ELNY receivers accused them of breaching fiduciary duties and other issues related to the ELNY rehabilitation and insolvency case. However, Nassau County Judge John Galasso found the plaintiffs’ lawyers in contempt and dismissed the lawsuit without prejudice, meaning it could potentially be reopened.
In my March 7, 2012 blog post I reported about a February 20, 2012 piece by Steve Acunto, CEO of CINN,SoggySaga: Executive Life’s Liquidation Drowns Policyholders’ Annuitants Interests in 21-year Long Process in which the Mount Vernon, New York based executive excoriates those responsible for the management of the ELNY estate after it had been placed into rehabilitation.
So this adds to the complexity of the ELNY case. On the one hand you have allegations against the two largest structured settlement brokerage firms and 1-100 unnamed “Doe” parties in two class action lawsuits over the alleged ill-advised placement of the ELNY products in 1985-1986 and on the other hand you have a “suspended” allegation that places the blame squarely on the shoulders of New York’s insurance regulators for what they did post 1991. See Accident victims are suing New York Liquidation Bureau as state agency slashes their payments New York Daily News January 8, 2013
But if they weren’t in ELNY to begin with, or they had diversified their risk, Plaintffs would not be in the position they are in. As I previously reported the time tested adage ” don’t put all your eggs in one basket” had been around for over 200 years at the time of the ELNY placements.