Name: Benjamin Lyon Firm: Debevoise & Plimpton LLP Location: London University: University of Auckland Degree: Law and commerce
Ongoing regulatory changes The ever-changing landscape of insurance regulation at the EU level is another variable that poses a significant challenge for insurance lawyers going forward. “Solvency II is the European directive that governs insurance broadly and that key piece of legislation is not changing at a great rate of knots,” Benjamin says. “However, there are other EU directives and other continual changes in law and regulation that insurers need to comply with. People want certainty and ongoing regulatory change can disrupt that. While these changes can lead to more work for law firms, it is difficult for young insurance lawyers to learn about regulations if they keep changing every six months.” Be interested in what you do Having a genuine interest in insurance is key to being successful in this area of law. “When we have junior lawyers going through their traineeships, you can tell very quickly which ones come to insurance for six months with a real interest in the subject,” Benjamin says. “I had a genuine interest in the corporate world, as well as business and finance, and that’s continued throughout my career. It’s vital to be interested in what you are doing, because you are going to be doing it for a long time!” He also recommends that lawyers at the start of their careers get the broadest legal education that they can. “You never know where you are going to end up,” he notes. “If you told me 15 years ago that I would be a senior insurance lawyer at a US law firm in London, I would have laughed at you. But because I got a very broad corporate legal education in New Zealand – I did capital markets work, general corporate advisory, M&A and commercial contracts – I found a speciality that I love. Having that broad legal education is critical to help you find the area that interests you.”
policies cover business costs and losses resulting from covid-19. This is a reputational issue for the insurance industry akin to the cloud that the investment banking industry still operates under following the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. It seems clear that a number of insureds may have been mis-sold business interruption insurance that they thought would cover them for losses and costs arising from covid-19. Generally, almost all such insurance policies have specific exclusions for pandemic coverage or are required by their regulators to not provide coverage on the basis that pandemic losses would likely render insurance firms insolvent should a significant event arise such as covid-19 – leaving all other insured with no over for their other policies.” Brexit: trade deal or no trade deal? On Brexit, Benjamin says that “the current uncertainty surrounding the UK’s trading position with the EU when the current transition period expires at the end of the 2020 calendar year is clearly a negative
for the country as a whole, including UK-domiciled insurance firms and EU
insurance firms who operate in the UK on a cross-border basis. That being said, insurers are now well placed to address either a negotiated trade deal with the EU or a no-deal end to the transition period. This is on the basis that the insurance industry was required by their UK and relevant EU regulators to forward plan for either eventuality. Larger UK insurers have set up fully authorised subsidiaries or branches in the EU to ensure seamless service for clients and other stakeholders. Likewise, EU firms have done the same in the UK. A ‘no trade deal’ end of the transition period will be hardest for medium to small insurers who may not find it economical to have more than one fully authorised firm in their group.”
155
Sign up to
SOLICITORS
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online