N.Y. Appellate Court Allows Transatlantic’s Affirmative Defenses to Stand in Loss Portfolio Transfer Dispute

NEW YORK — A New York trial court properly refused to dismiss certain affirmative defenses asserted by Transatlantic Reinsurance Co. (TRC) in a dispute over whether its cedents’ transfer of asbestos losses to other insurers breached the parties’ facultative reinsurance certificates, an appellate court has held.

In an Oct. 15 order, the New York Appellate Division, 1st Department, further upheld the trial court’s refusal to award Granite State Insurance Co. summary judgment, ruling that questions of factexist as to whether the transfer constituted permissible “treaty” reinsurance, which was allowable under the certificates.

In the early 1980s, Granite State Insurance Co. …