California’s fight to get insurance companies to disclose their Holocaust-era policyholder lists is proving to be one heck of a battle in the case of Munich Reinsurance.
Ignoring a subpoena, the German company skipped a deposition on Monday in San Francisco.
Angry California officials said their next step is to seek a state Superior Court order forcing the firm to comply.
That hearing is slated for April 11.
If Munich Re keeps failing to provide the state with what it seeks, the California Department of Insurance could fine the company and/or strip it of its license to do business here. California officials had scheduled this week’s deposition so Munich Re executives could provide under oath details of Holocaust-era insurance policies.
Munich Re, the largest reinsurer in the world, earned revenues of approximately $3 billion in the United States last year through its U.S. affiliate, American Re. Much of the revenue was generated in California.
The German company was subpoenaed by Chuck Quackenbush, the state insurance commissioner, who cited Munich Re’s “continued obfuscation and foot-dragging.”
In a press release issued Monday, Munich Re indicated that it did not comply because it is trying to get the California Superior Court to quash the subpoena.
Munich Re claimed that California does not have jurisdiction over the company, even though a Department of Insurance judge ruled otherwise in February.
“The department’s action is an unconstitutional and unlawful attempt by a state agency to direct the actions of foreign companies,” Munich Re’s press release stated.
California begs to differ.
The state claims that Victoria, a Dusseldorf-based company in which Munich Re has a controlling interest, issued insurance policies in Europe between 1920 and 1945 that it hasn’t honored.
In California’s eyes, if Munich Re wants to continue operating in this state, it must make those policyholder lists available to regulators. Officials expected that would happen without friction after Munich Re signed a September stipulation saying it would do so.
“They have backtracked on that agreement,” Dan Edwards, the state’s deputy insurance commissioner, said Tuesday. “They continue to be not particularly cooperative.”
Munich Re insists that, as a reinsurer, it has always dealt with selling insurance to companies rather than issuing individual policies.
“The department’s action is improperly directed at Munich Re,” its statement claimed.
A new California law called the Holocaust Registry Act goes into effect next month. It was put into place to help the state’s estimated 20,000 Holocaust survivors resolve long-standing unpaid policies.
“Munich Re does support the goal of financial justice for Holocaust victims,” American Re spokesman Tom Walker said Tuesday. “It’s simply that [California’s] approach — the demand that Munich Re provide documents it doesn’t have access to — doesn’t make any sense.”
Edwards said that if Munich Re wants to “fight it out in the courts,” California is ready for the battle.
“If they want to do business in California, they should abide by the law,” he said. “And if they don’t, then our hand will be forced and the action we take will be against their subsidiaries. Munich Re is jeopardizing their subsidiaries in very serious fashion.”