Head of team: Jonathan O’Brien, general counsel and company secretary

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Portfolio Transfer

In order to execute on AIUD’s strategic objectives for 2022, it completed a transaction with an EEA Insurer to transfer all of its liabilities in respect of its French medical malpractice line of business (Transferring Business) to a third party EEA insurer (Portfolio Transfer). The Transferring Business comprises a portfolio of approximately 580 policies providing medical malpractice cover to public, and some private, profit and non-profit hospitals. In anticipation of the Portfolio Transfer, the Transferring Business was 100% reinsured via a quota share arrangement.

As part of the overall transaction, the AIUD legal team were directly involved in the drafting and negotiation of various agreements, including (i) Framework Agreement (ii) Run-off Management Services Agreement (iii) Custody and Security Agreements (iv) Reinsurance Agreement, as well as the various court documents required for the Portfolio Transfer. In addition, the AIUD legal team is leading AIUD’s interactions with the regulatory authorities involved in the Portfolio Transfer. The legal transfer will remain subject to the approval of the High Court of Ireland during 2023.

What has been the number one challenge that has impacted you over the past year?

Over the past year, the main challenge for the company has been assessing and reacting to the recent macroeconomic developments resulting from the war in Ukraine. While AIUD does not have any direct underwriting exposures in either Ukraine or Russia, the consequences of the war have resulted in indirect exposures such as heightened and persistent rates of inflation, supply chain disruption for our partners (particularly in the technology sector), market volatility and overall a slowdown of economic growth. AIUD has remained resilient in the face of these economic headwinds however the future economic outlooks still remains unclear for the broader financial services market.

Has the increasing consciousness of climate change and sustainability affected your company and the team’s priorities, and if so how?

AIUD has a climate change financial risk management framework in place in order to provide a coherent approach to manage the financial risks relating to climate change. The framework sets out the process to identify, measure, manage, monitor and report upon the financial risks which may result from this phenomenon. The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive will also increase the reporting requirements for financial firms, including AIUD, during the 2024 financial year.