The importance of directors’ and officers’ insurance as an essential form of risk management for directors, officers and other individuals concerned with the management of corporations cannot be understated. A spate of major corporate collapses in the past decade has increasingly focused the attention of the Courts, the legislature, investors and the general public on corporate governance and corporate responsibility. Directors and officers are increasingly exposed to the risk that breach of duty may give rise to claims and / or regulatory action.
Globally, the statutory trend is to make directors and officers personally liable for the contraventions of the company, irrespective of whether or not they were directly involved in those contraventions. Against this backdrop of increasing responsibility and heightened scrutiny, the prudent director or officer must ensure that adequate D&O insurance arrangements are in place to minimise his or her exposure to personal liability and associated legal costs.
Ereena Somov relocated to Moscow from Sydney in 2012 to join AIG’s Russian office as Commercial Lines Claims Manager. Ereena previously worked in AIG’s Australian office as a Senior Financial Lines Claims Specialist, focusing on the management of large claims against company directors and officers. Ereena holds degrees in arts and law from the University of Sydney and is an experienced lawyer.
Prior to joining AIG, she worked in private legal practice for over 10 years with a focus on defending and monitoring claims against companies, directors and officers, and professionals on instructions from insurers. Ereena also served on the board of an Australian not-for-profit company as a non-executive director for 6 years.
