The United States Supreme Court struck down a California law intended to force European insurers to disclose detailed information regarding all insurance policies they sold in Europe before and during the Second World War in a 5-4 vote on June 23rd. The Court determined that the California statute interferes with the President's conduct of the nation's foreign affairs and is therefore preempted.
The New York office of Riker, Danzig, Scherer, Hyland & Perretti LLP represented Gerling Global Reinsurance Corporation of America and five other insurance companies who faced suspension of their California licenses for inability to produce the information in the hands of tangentially-related European affiliate companies. The companies involved in the case did not issue insurance policies in Europe before or during World War II. Five of the six companies did not even exist at the time.
Riker Danzig Partner Frederick W. Reif notes that this case put the U.S. Supreme Court at the center of over a half-century of international efforts to compensate those victimized in the Holocaust. "The California statute directly interfered with U.S. foreign policy initiatives in this area."
