U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London, v. 3131 Veterans Blvd LLC; MPIRE Properties LLC, Docket Nos. 23-1268-cv, 23-7613-cv

Insurance Law

 

Could State Insurance Law Reverse-Preempt the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”)?

 

McCarran–Ferguson Act

 

 

 

(…) Shortly after Stephens I, we decided another case involving the MFA, Stephens v. Nat'l Distillers & Chem. Corp. (Stephens II), 69 F.3d 1226 (2d Cir. 1995), amended (Jan. 11,1996). That decision assessed whether the MFA allowed state insurance law to reverse-preempt the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”). Id. at 1231–32. The panel in that case, noting the earlier Stephens I in a footnote, ultimately rested its decision on the grounds that “international law preempted the relevant state insurance law before the passage of both the McCarran–Ferguson Act and the FSIA” and codification of international law standards in the FSIA did not undermine that preexisting preemptive force. Id. at 1233 & n.6. As the Convention and its implementing legislation both post-date the MFA, that holding is inapplicable here, and we address Stephens I alone in this opinion. Compare McCarran–Ferguson Act, c. 20, § 2, 59 Stat. 33, 34 (1945) (codified at 15 U.S.C. § 1012), with An Act To Implement the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Pub. L. 91-368, § 1, 84 Stat. 692 (1970) (codified at 9 U.S.C. § 201) (providing that “the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of June 10, 1958, shall be enforced in United States courts in accordance with this chapter.”). (Fn. 2).

 

 

 

(U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, May 8, 2025, Certain Underwriters at Lloyds, London, v. 3131 Veterans Blvd LLC; MPIRE Properties LLC, Docket Nos. 23-1268-cv, 23-7613-cv)