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entities were in fact a "single business enterprise," the liquidator was vested
with the defendants' assets by operation of law, and no further actions, such
as writs of seizure, were necessary to bring those assets into the liquidation
proceeding. The court rejected the claim that the liquidator was thereby
regulating non‐insurer corporations, finding the order was simply in
furtherance of the liquidator's duty to marshal the assets that are properly
included in the liquidation. The court squarely held that the insurance code
which authorizes the issuance of an injunction restraining, inter alia, "all other
persons from transacting any insurance business or disposing of its property,"
is intentionally broad to ensure that the jurisdiction of the liquidation court
extends to persons or entities such as defendants, who may have access,
control, or possession of the insurer's assets. Finally, the court held that it was
not required to stay the civil action pending the outcome of the criminal
proceedings filed against various individuals, because to do so would prejudice
the liquidator's civil remedy against those persons.
Guste v. ALIC Corporation, 595 So.2d 797 (La. App. 2 Cir. 1992). When an
order is entered in receivership proceedings enjoining parties from
instituting or taking further action in proceedings against the insurer and
staying all suits and seizures against the insurer, it is applicable to State
agencies, including, the Attorney General and Commissioner of Securities
who sought to initiate suit alleging that the insurer had violated securities
laws and committed unfair trade practices. Once the receiver is appointed,
all claims against the insolvent receiver must be presented either to the
domiciliary receiver or to the ancillary receiver appointed in the reciprocal
state. Prior to the appointment of an ancillary receiver in Louisiana for an
insolvent foreign insurer, the only individual with authority over the assets of
the insurer or authority over liability claims against the insurer is the
insurance commissioner in the foreign state. After appointment of the
Louisiana Insurance Commissioner as ancillary receiver, claims against the
insurer may be brought in either domiciliary or ancillary forum. Subject
matter jurisdiction vests in the district court in which receivership
proceedings are instituted. Therefore, subject matter jurisdiction is
conferred exclusively to the courts where domiciliary and ancillary
receiverships are instituted, proceedings in any other courts lack subject
matter jurisdiction against the insurer.
Mississippi
New Jersey
State Security Life Insurance Co. v. State of Mississippi, 498 So.2d 825 (Miss.
1986). The Supreme Court of Mississippi held that the judge in an insurance
receivership proceeding may grant a temporary restraining order prohibiting
the allegedly‐insolvent insurer from transacting business and requiring the
insurer to produce documents and records. However, the court further found
that the judge erred in granting a default judgment on the trial date when an
answer had been filed and not stricken by the court.
Matter of Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Co., 258 N.J. Super. 356 (App. Div.
1992). A New Jersey state court presiding over the Mutual Benefit Life
Insurance Company rehabilitation proceeding, had the authority to enjoin outof‐state
indenture bond trustees from foreclosing on real estate projects in
which the insurer owned partnership interests or for which the insurer had
guaranteed debt. Even if the projects were not, technically, direct assets of the
insurer, they were partnership assets in which the insurer had a direct interest
and, because of the guarantees, foreclosure would trigger deficiency
judgments directly against the insurer.