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An attempt to understand one small corner of this story: am I to believe that the current situation is that DFS knows of many instances of Lloyd's breaking the law, but is not going to go after them?
This does not seem like a stable equilibrium. Are all of these violations only of rules specific to New York, so that there's no information other regulators/prosecutors might be interested in? And somehow, Lloyd's doesn't suffer reputational damage (in the form of increased scrutiny by other regulators) as a result of it being public knowledge that they're conspiring with DFS to get off the hook for no good reason?
Another thing I'm not following: what does NRA need insurance for? Sure, every organization needs insurance for one reason or another, but this story is written as if NRA's need for insurance is particularly large. What's that insurance covering?
The NRA alleges that NYDFS was aware of many other circumstances where Lloyd's and other covered insurance providers were in violation of the law, but verbally offered to Lloyd's employees that, if Lloyd's closed all activities with the NRA, to resolve any non-NRA conflicts via Lloyd's providing a remediation report without a fine or consent decree.
Some of these interpretations are probably specific to recent periods in New York, such as exactly where and when a non-insurer can advertise an insurer's products. Others are broader, and the NRA's CarryGuard program faced similar intervention in Washington State contemporaneously with the New York investigation. And there is an awkward question about how much these rules were predictable interpretations of existing regulation.
I don't know if it does -- and, if it does, I'm skeptical reputational harm is a valid legal tort against state actors acting in their official role -- but it doesn't really matter. Lloyd's did not and pretty clearly will not bring a civil case against New York; another part of the legal charlie foxtrot in this case involved the NRA having to jump through a ton of hoops to serve a subpeona to Lloyd's while trying to get further evidence. They're the ones who would be harmed under this theory, and the courts generally don't accept third-party legal complaints.
While both general liability insurance and Directors and Officers insurance are a good plan for any sufficiently large organization, the controversial nature of the NRA makes it a far greater requirement. The organization and its leadership are routinely targeted with both valid and
spuriousnovel civil litigation, with a tremendous variance in cost of defense, on top of the normal risks. This both impacts the business's bottom line -- even an ultimately dismissed case where the plaintiff is required to pay legal fees and isn't judgement proof is a major cost, and that's not the most common result -- and also results in a feedback loop where now the only people willing to be on the NRA's board are those who don't care about potential personal liability.The NRA offer(ed) multiple major in-person conventions and meetings, and these are major parts of its role as an advocacy group. Nearly all sites require some level of insurance coverage by specific types and grades of insurer just to rent space. Because of the NRA's unusual size, controversial nature, and purpose, these requirements were likely more severe than any other comparable organization.
The NRA offers a variety of insurance programs (underwritten or otherwise provided by regulated insurances) as part of its financial model. While most of its revenue comes from membership fees, training services, etc, these were not a trivial source. And while the NRA has not been completely frozen out from all insurance providers, note that the NRA did not allege that DFS wanted Lloyd's to stop coverage in New York. Not every insurance provider has been cowed from handling NRA-related services, but this almost certainly has impacted both the cost of services and the available profit margin for them.
Some of the insurance products, such as range insurance, are major parts of its outreach, services, and recruitment tools. The NRA was one of the few big programs that can consistently offer good and affordable range insurance, and that's one reason a large number of gun clubs required or encouraged membership, for example. While the changes here are not the sole reason a lot of ranges are starting to look at different options and providers, or devolve to self-insurance -- again, not every insurance provider has been cowed from handling gun-related services, and the NRA has been decidedly less popular for other reasons -- but this seriously undermines the long-term viability of the organization.
DFS does not solely regulate insurance providers, but also banks and merchant services. These are kinda important in a much more short-term framework.
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