2014 – 2024: a decade in D&O

Hiscox London Market bound its first D&O policy; a publicly traded software company. Hiscox has since gone on to work with over 1,800 separate insureds and written over 5,000 D&O policies.

‘Operation Carwash’ was launched to target alleged government corruption in Brazil, bringing to light a huge fraud at several companies in Brazil including state-owned Brazilian multinational giant Petrobras.

There were 220 US federal securities class actions (SCAs) filed in 2014. This would be the lowest amount filed for the next six years but, even so, SCAs filed in 2014 would go on to settle for over $6.7bn with a median settlement of $7m.

Alibaba launched what is still the largest US IPO in history, raising $22bn.

US health technology company Theranos reached a peak valuation of $10bn - it would cease to exist by the end of the decade.

In 2017 Hiscox paid its first D&O claim - $5m in relation to a Biotech Section 11 SCA. Hiscox has gone on to pay over a quarter of a billion dollars in D&O claims and handled over 3,000 claim notifications.

In 2017, the number of US federal SCAs had risen to 427.

The average SCA settlement value was $24m 

Hiscox started to write Australian D&O business on a primary basis. 

The US Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Cyan decision, affirming that state courts retain concurrent jurisdiction over 33 Act claims and therefore increasing risk for companies listing on a US exchange

The number of US federal SCAs rose to a decade high of 431.

The Petrobras SCA, following on from 2014’s Operation Carwash, became the fifth largest settlement of all time at over USD 3B.

In March of 2020, following the global pandemic the first COVID related securities class actions were filed. 

The boom for SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies) peaked with over 600 SPAC IPOs (in 2014, of those 300 companies launching an IPO on a US stock exchange, less than 20 were SPACs).

COVID related SCAs continue to be filed taking the total to over 65.

Over 2,000 Securities class actions were filed in total over the decade with an average settlement of USD 35M

Hiscox crosses $250m of claims paid.

Hiscox has insured over 150 companies going through an IPO process.

In a decade, Hiscox has been the primary insurer on almost 1,500 D&O policies.