Parties in N.Y. Federal Reinsurance Fraud Action Battle Over Arbitrability of Claims

NEW YORK — Two insurers have opposed a motion to compel arbitration of claims accusing a reinsurer’s principals of mishandling reinsurance trust assets, arguing that the arbitration provision in the reinsurance agreements at issue do not extend to non-signatories.

In their July 24 opposition filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the insurers maintain that the presumption in favor of arbitration does not apply because defendants cannot show that the parties to the reinsurance agreements intended to create rights for non-signatories.

Defendants assert in their Aug. 14 reply that estoppel permits non-signatories to …