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itsniftyhistorytime · 4 years

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Welcome to today’s history dump, affectionally known by its (zero) followers as, “what do we know? Probably not much!” Lay down your towels, and get ready for your chompers to salivate, cause it’s gonna be a juicy one!

Let’s start off with a bit of background on our fierce femme fatale. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Krystyna Skarbek, a woman that hails from the land of pierogis, copious amounts of alcohol, and inaccurate reports of idiotic grandeur (does the battle of Korjanty ring a bell!? If it doesn’t here’s some hints – in 1939 this Calvary was falsely accused of charging at German tanks on horseback, marking them as the man, the myth, and the dumb legend.) so, what country do we speak of? Only the land of my people… Poland!

Arguably, Krystyna’s first and only love, Poland will play a major role in this woman’s life. While sadly being mostly erased from history, Krystyna should be known for many things, but a few notable ones:

1.The inspiration for author Ian Flemings first Bond girl, ‘Vesper Lynd’ (she had at one point also taken him on as one of her lovers)

2. Sir Winny of Britain aka Winston Churchill’s favorite spy (you might know him for one of his most famous quotes, ‘fear is a reaction. courage is a decision’ I have no doubt it is plastered on many a haunted house pamphlet’)

3. Sixth in the Miss. Polonia beauty pageant, and often referred to as ‘physically stunning and charismatic’, but more importantly, handy in survival skills and defense techniques aka the Miss. Congeniality of the 1900’s

4. At one point her assistant, a former Polish intelligence agent would (allegedly) fall so deeply into obsession with her that he would ask her to marry him. When Christine essentially says ‘fuck no, we’re in the middle of a war and I’m already married???’ he would try and prove his love to her by jumping off the city’s Elizabeth Bridge, not realizing the Danube was frozen. Once that didn’t work he tried to shoot himself, but lost what little gumption he had, and was promptly sent back to London.

As always, let’s set the scene for Krystyna (before we get into some of her more daring antics) – born and raised in Warsaw, Poland in the early 1900’s (her year of birth is often contested and shrouded in mystery, something which I think she would appreciate, being a spy and all) Krystyna would later be also known as Christine Granville, her wartime spy moniker. The daughter of a count and a Jewish banking heiress, she would marry and divorce young (some might say this marks the beginning of a string of lovers, cause this woman knows she’s GOT IT, and she’s not settling for just one mediocre man.)

However, it really heats up for our gal Christine in the Tatra mountains in 1938, where she would meet her second husband (but not her last lover.) Honestly, by 1939 Christine is pretty much just chilling, probably bored out of her mind. She’s already been a beauty queen, married twice, chilled in some mountains, and I’m pretty sure she’s thinking… well now the fuck what?

Well, in a series of fortuitous events (for her, but not the rest of the world) Hitler would invade Poland, and Christine would travel to England where she would greatly impress MI6, so much that she becomes a member of the Special Operations Executive aka she’s stuck with a bunch of bumbling idiots and earns herself the status of being one of the most prolific women spies of her time.

Some of her most exciting missions are as follows:

1. This crazy gal flies to Budapest under the guise of being a journalist. (I like to picture her holding a pen in one hand and a notebook filled with spy notes in the other, so ballsy and beautiful that all the men just take it at face value that she’s a journalist.) She then skis across the Carpathian Mountains with a Polish Olympic skier that she’s somehow roped into her spy antics (in freezing temperatures, where there are actual dead bodies frozen along the way) to begin the work of helping resistance workers and high-risk refugees escape the country

2. At one point she hooks up with a one-legged spy, who would go by the moniker, Kennedy. She played one half of this dynamic duo (he played a quarter, on account of the missing leg.) Divorced from her second husband by this point, she could easily have married Kennedy, and been given the prime opportunity to refer to him as her partner in both life and work, but instead chooses to just bone him and cause a ruckus across Europe. At one point they were interrogated and imprisoned by the Gestapo. Due to this saucy bitch’s quick thinking she was able to bite her tongue till it bled and convinced them she had tuberculosis, thereby making them freak out and let her and her companion go.

3. Despite her face being plastered up across the country on wanted posters, she waltzed into a German controlled prison and rescued her colleagues (one of which was her boss and coincidentally her lover.) Amazingly she did this by first walking around the prison walls and humming a popular American blues ballad that both her and her boss knew. Once hearing his hummed response, she boldly walked into the prison and convinced them she was a British agent and the niece of a British general who was on his way to help with the allied resistance, and that if they harmed her colleagues a dreadful punishment would befall them. Are the men were released.

4. Was once stopped near the Italian border by two German officers and when told to raise her arms, and did so, revealing a grenade under each arm. A dramatic interpretation follows:

German officers: Lady stop, ze seems suspect!

Christine: If you don’t let me go I’ll let these grenades drop and we’ll all die

German officers: Fuck me, this gal is crazy, let’s run away.

5. Upon avoiding a German patrol, she came face to face with an Alsatian hound aka a look alike German Shepard. Managing to charm her way into keeping the dog quiet, she ALSO convinced the Germans that they were about to be attacked by basically just making a ton of noise, and they ran away. (According to some, her seductive appeal would even extend to OTHER fierce German guard dogs, who would nuzzle at her feet.)

6. Parachuted into enemy territories multiple times despite the ever-facing worry of death. Also convinced a German officer to personally carry a bag of HER secret documents past a Nazi check points.

Sadly, once the war was over, the British discarded her. Refusing to give her much pay, or allow her to becoming a citizen of Britain (despite being one of the most prolific and useful spies for them) she would find herself working odd jobs, so as to not fall into destitution. On one such job, as a ship stewardess, she would meet a man who would fall in love with her, and despite her telling him she wasn’t into it, he would follow her back to London and stab her to death. (I’d like to think that she would haunt his ass in death and ruin his life.)

#history #badass women #spies #niftyhistory #notquitesurehowtagswork #krystyna skarbek #christine granville

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golicit · 4 years

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Guest Post: D&O Insurance Pricing Trends

Jeff Hirsch

As I have noted in prior posts, and as a result of a number of factors, the current marketplace for D&O insurance marketplace is disrupted, with many buyers experiencing significant price increases. In the following guest post, Jeff Hirsch, Head of Product at Scale Underwriting, takes a detailed look at current D&O insurance pricing trends. A version of this article previously was published on the Foundershield blog. I would like to thank Jeff and Foundershield for allowing me to publish this article. I welcome guest post submissions from responsible authors on topics of interest to this blog’s readers. Please contact me directly if you would like to submit a guest post. Here is Jeff’s article.

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With a hands-on approach in 2019, the D&O insurance industry continued its market corrections to make up for poor underwriting results in year’s past. Starting in 2018’s Q4, we saw steeper premiums, higher retentions, reduced capacity, more restrictive terms, and plenty of non-renewal.

Historically, D&O underwriters reacted to linear claim trends—claims that were often based on business judgment errors, usually in terms of inaccurate financial forecasting. These claims were relatively easy to follow and understand, and their impact on pricing was objective.

Also, D&O underwriters’ fears were focused on accounting misstatement claims and other exposures that were more fundamental. However, event-driven lawsuits and data breach litigation climbed last year—merger objection lawsuits topping the list of cases. Also, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuits hovered near-record high, as well.

Among the big names, Google faced two Derivative Actions lawsuits, and Boeing faced a Securities Class Action (SCA) lawsuit. Plus, numerous breach and non-breach events motivated legal actions among several companies, including Federal Express, Facebook, Marriott, etc.

This past year was not at all dull in terms of D&O claims activity. Here’s how 2019 wrapped up and what 2020 has up its sleeve regarding D&O pricing trends.

What Affects D&O Premium?

Even with much event-driven litigation and high profile cases underway, a few elements impact D&O premiums historically, including:

Company size

Number of employees

Operating costs

Business scope

Market trends

Company’s financial security

Business ownership structure

Experts are calling the D&O industry a hard market, and expect the trend to continue for a couple of years. About one in every 11 companies are being sued, but it’s not necessarily that fraudulent activity is honestly to blame—that’s not plausible.

Source: Stanford Law School – Securities Class Action Clearinghouse

As mentioned, however, the SACs and litigation trailing after high-profile events are causing price hikes in the sector. Chubb drove this point home in a June 2019 white paper entitled, “From Nuisance to Menace: The Rising Tide of Securities Class Action Litigation.” Highlighted in the document was the astonishing amount of $23 billion, which was the cost of securities litigation over the last five years.

Shockingly, half of that went to attorneys while the other half covered settlements.

With the uptick in SCA lawsuits, many insurers are adjusting their underwriting approach, even exchanging growth for fair pricing. Many are taking a more conservative approach by reducing primary commercial D&O aggregate limits.

Some are doubting whether rates can outpace claim expenses and payments loss trends.

How Much Has D&O Pricing Changed?

The most significant D&O pricing changes relate directly to the increase in SCA lawsuits. Although for nearly every D&O risk, rates are up. We’ve also seen a rise in excess lines, which is vastly different from even one year ago.

The 2019 take-home message is that premiums are up. This approach seems to be a step in the right direction to counteract inadequate pricing of the past. However, losses are also up. Experts are predicting the D&O dynamics of a hard market to play out well into 2020, if not the entire year. (All pricing charts in this article are from Trans Re’s 2019 Update to its U.S. Public Directors and Officers Liability Insurance Market Analysis (here) and are published in this article with the authors’ permission.)

According to Kevin LaCroix, executive vice president of RT ProExec, particular companies face significant increases. Some of these firms include those with a recent initial public offering (IPO), financial troubles, or a hefty claims history.

While this comes as no surprise, given the D&O activity on 2019’s docket, it’s still a jagged pill to swallow for some business owners. Some other major events that continue to impact the D&O sector include:

Event-Driven Litigation

Also known as “bad news” claims since they often cause a severe price fall, disappointing shareholders, and the public alike. The most common scenarios are human-made or environmental disasters, product problems, and cyber attacks. However, event-driven litigation often calls upon the strength of a D&O policy.

Brand Value

According to Allianz, the loss of a company’s reputation or brand value is ranked as the ninth top business risk overall. From environment to social and governance failings, many variables factor into whether a company is “hot or cold.” What’s more, is that D&O underwriters consider the social media temperature of a company to gauge reputation.

Economic Growth

Whether it’s politics, trade wars, or something else entirely, experts predict a slow-down in economic growth in 2020. What this means is that more businesses will inevitably shut, facing insolvency or bankruptcy. While this outlook does seem bleak, it impacts the D&O sector significantly. Mainly because these insolvencies will translate into D&O claims.

Litigation Funding

The fact that litigation funding is now becoming a global investment class only makes sense, especially in light of other trends influencing the D&O space. Investors are looking for a better return on investment (ROI) after years of relatively risky business. The litigation funding industry, which tops $10 billion globally, has grown significantly in recent years. Plus, the US market makes up half of that.

High Profile D&O Suits

The once highest-valued private unicorn’s headlined a Fortune article titled, WeWork’s Legal Floodgates May Have Just Opened. With such a bold title, who can help but shake their heads at this calamity. The most significant problem is many of the directors and officers named in WeWork’s claims are shaking their heads back at us—in denial.

At the heart of this unfortunate situation is the issue of the “entire fairness standard.” But let’s back up. In San Francisco County Superior Court on November 4, former WeWork employee Natalie Sojka filed a lawsuit against former CEO Adam Neumann, SoftBank, and specific members of WeWork’s board of directors.

Sojka claimed that they used their control of the company to benefit themselves, which turned out to be detrimental to the company’s minority shareholders.

The ongoing class action lawsuit continues to unveil severe accusations, including breaching fiduciary duty. Since the business was spiraling already, some believe the company’s leadership was stuck between a rock and a hard place—aka choosing the SoftBank buyout or JP Morgan’s loan offer.

Nevertheless, Neumann and several other individuals (not to mention WeWork, in general) are in hot water because of the decisions that were made. The entire process has destroyed billions of dollars of value. To make matters worse, hundreds of people were laid off during the incident, not to mention the mounds of cash investors lost along the way, too.

Cost of D&O Insurance by Company Size

It’s no surprise that company size impacts the cost of D&O insurance. According to a price index report by TransRe, a property and casualty reinsurance company, rates are picking up across the board.

Large-Cap Companies

The report shows an upturn in D&O pricing in 2018, and it’s been climbing since. That said, prices for all D&O layers up 3.4% for large-cap companies. As mentioned, experts predict the climb to continue throughout 2020.

Mid-cap Companies

Mid-cap companies show an uptick in the working layer D&O premiums with a 7.1% increase. The report shows an overall increase of 8.4% for all D&O layers for mid-cap companies, but only 5.4% for excess lines.

Small-Cap Companies

Small-cap companies were the outlier last year, whereas this year, the differences aren’t as profound. With an 11.6% increase for all D&O layers, small-cap companies are experiencing the same uptick in overall D&O premium costs.

The D&O Market Outlook for 2020

As the D&O sector continues its much-needed transformation, here’s what we can look forward to in the new year.

D&O Rates Will Keep Climbing– While several factors are causing even private company D&O rates to push higher, the need for the coverage is palpable. The private company D&O market buyers will have to sustain increases. Of course, these increases shouldn’t be as much as large private companies. Keep in mind, though, that rates for large-cap companies are increasing less than those of small-cap companies despite the significant losses being paid in the large-cap sector.

Lawsuits Will Be Filed– Much like the adage that a district attorney could find a way to “indict a ham sandwich,” the plaintiff’s counseling representing minority investors can (and do) come up with clever ways to bring a lawsuit. What’s more, is that these lawyers aren’t necessarily looking at company size to indicate success.Think of it this way, they’re aiming for 400-pound Tuna—or otherwise known as juicy allegations—rather than 4-pound Fluke. The point is that the numbers don’t have to be in the billions to begin a lawsuit. In short, no matter what you’re fishing, you still have to launch an expedition.

D&O Insurance Protection Is Two-Fold– Firstly, if the board of directors is found in the wrong, D&O coverage will typically protect against a plaintiff verdict and contribute to a settlement. Secondly, D&O insurance will cover defense costs for the directors and officers as well as the entity itself (in most cases). Keep in mind, however, that plenty of caveats to coverage exist. Still, this “duty to defend” is significant value in terms of D&O insurance. After all, D&O lawsuits—even if they ultimately fail—can cost massive amounts of money.

Underwriters May Ride the Pricing Wave– On the one hand, large private company cases could intimidate many in the underwriting community. Only, amid the industry chatter about the “hard/hardening market,” some forget that these discussions don’t segment the public and private market.On the other hand, though, large private companies typically function more like publicly traded companies than startups—especially regarding some regulations, corporate governance, and compliance. What this means for the underwriting community is that they can justify an increase in rates.

With such significant past changes, D&O players are learning now more than ever how to roll with the punches. Although more transition lies ahead, overall, players are gearing up for another rousing D&O game in 2020.

Guest Post: D&O Insurance Pricing Trends published first on

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