The WorldCom settlement, investigations of AIG and Marsh & McLennan, and general anxiety about the state of corporate governance is drawing attention to the market for directors and officers insurance. “The quantity of cases remains high and the complexities of litigation are overwhelming,” says Loretta Worters of the Insurance Industry Institute. “D&O losses increased by 640 percent between 1996 and 2001. There were twenty $100 million settlements in 2004,” she notes.
And that’s causing challenges for companies as they seek to protect their boards and chief executives.
