The CEO of the Chubb The insurance company on Wednesday defended granting former President Donald Trump $91.6 million bail in a civil case in which he was accused of defaming writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of rape had accused.
Chubb CEO Evan Greenberg sent a letter to investors, customers and brokers who expressed concerns about the bond issued by Chubb subsidiary Federal Insurance Company.
In it, Greenberg wrote that the decision had “nothing to do with the merits” of the appeal or with favoring either party in the case.
“If Chubb issues an appeal bond, it will not enter judgment on the claims, even if the claims allegedly involve reprehensible conduct,” Greenberg wrote in the letter, which was obtained by CNBC.
“As a guarantor, we don’t take sides,” he said. “It would be wrong for us to do that and we do not support the defendant in any way. “We support and are part of the justice system affected in this case.”
Chubb has been under fire since Friday, when Trump announced he had received the company’s appeal bond.
Evan Greenberg, President and CEO of Chubb Ltd., arrives at the morning session of the Allen & Co. Media and Technology Conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, USA, on Wednesday, July 10, 2019.
Patrick T Fallon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
If Trump loses his appeal against the libel ruling, Carroll can demand payment from Chubb. But in the meantime, Carroll can’t collect the $83.3 million in damages a Manhattan federal court awarded her in January.
The reason the appeal bond amount is higher than the original damages award is because it reflects interest on the judgment that will continue to accrue while Trump attempts to overturn the judgment.
“I fully understand how polarizing and emotional this case and the defendant are, and how easy it would be for Chubb to simply say no,” Greenberg wrote in the letter.
“However, we support the rule of law and our role within it. We felt this was the right thing to do and frankly put our personal feelings aside.”
Greenberg was appointed by then-President Trump to his Advisory Committee on Trade Policy and Negotiations in October 2018. After Democratic President Joe Biden took office, he continued to be a member of the panel that advises the US Trade Representative – until March 2023.
In April 2020, Trump appointed Greenberg and numerous other executives and experts to so-called Great American Economic Revival Industry Groups to help the US recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.
In his letter Wednesday, the CEO said Chubb protected itself by ensuring that Trump’s bond, like all other bonds issued by the company, was “fully collateralized.”
“If the bond is called, Chubb will assume the security that will restore us to health,” Greenberg wrote. “We hardly support or subsidize defendants or take ‘one for the team’.” “
However, the letter did not say what collateral was used to protect the bond, whose collateral was used, and what premium, if any, Trump paid Chubb to obtain the bond.
Insurance Journal reported last week that Nick Newton, senior vice president at Assured Partners and former president of the National Association of Surety Bond Producers, said a premium for an appeal bond is typically between 1% and 2% of the value of the bond, but that it can be negotiated.
If Trump had paid Chubb the typical bonus, it would have cost him between $916,000 and $1.8 million.
CNBC asked Chubb whether Trump had separately sought bail of up to $500 million from the company against a judgment in the civil white-collar fraud case he lost in Manhattan Supreme Court earlier this year.
The company responded in an emailed statement, saying: “As a policy, we do not confirm or deny whether we are in business discussions with companies or individuals.”
In this civil fraud case, Trump and other defendants were held liable for making financial false statements regarding his net worth and the value of real estate assets.
Chubb is mentioned in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit that led to this ruling.
The lawsuit alleges that a Chubb appraiser visited Trump’s triplex apartment in Trump Tower in Manhattan in 2010 to purchase home insurance.
Trump himself gave the appraiser a tour of the apartment and told him he believed the apartment was between 25,000 and 30,000 square feet, even though its actual size was slightly less than 11,000 square feet, the lawsuit says.
Trump also told the appraiser that the master bedroom and a dressing room were not visible because his wife, Melania, was sleeping, the lawsuit said.
According to the complaint, Trump gave the appraiser just 15 minutes to check the property.
Source link
2024-03-15 16:24:01
www.cnbc.com