Holding Company Act Provisions May Affect Executive Contracts

A little known decision by an Oklahoma Appellate Court may affect employment contracts between insurers and their executives. In that decision, the court upheld a decision by the Oklahoma Insurance Commission that the employment contracts were void, since they had not been filed with or approved by the Commission as required by the Oklahoma Insurance Holding Company Act. Since the same type of law has been adopted in all or almost all states, the decision could serve as a precedent in any attempt to overturn an insurer’s employment contracts.