Pennsylvania court dismisses claims against Kingsway

The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has dismissed all claims against Kingsway and Kingsway America Inc. associated with the company’s donation of its Lincoln General shares to charities.
Kingsway Financial Services Inc. announced the court has dismissed all claims in the legal action by the Pennsylvania Department of Insurance (DOI), which challenged the disposition of Lincoln General Insurance Company (Lincoln).
The court sustained Kingsway’s objections to the action and rejected the arguments made by the DOI in its pleadings filed on Nov. 20, 2009, according to a Kingsway release.
The court confirmed the disposition of Lincoln did not violate Pennsylvania insurance laws and did not require DOI’s approval, the release went on to read.
“Kingsway has met and will continue to meet all of its regulatory and contractual obligations in respect of Lincoln,” Kingsway commented in a release.
In October 2009, Kingsway donated its indirect interest in Lincoln General to 20 different charities.
DOI argued that insurance holding company laws in the state require the insurance department’s approval of any change of control. Kingsway did not obtain such approval, according to DOI commissioner Joel Ario.
Kingsway maintained the view that the donations were lawfully made and that the DOI had no legal basis for demanding the unwinding of the donations.