PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES

Évaluation de projets : la valeur actualisée nette optimisée (VAN-O)
by Marcel Boyer et Éric Gravel                                                      

The Board of Directors In Risk Governance
by James Greenhill                                                                      

Le système d’assurance-santé en France
by Bertrand Venard

SYMPOSIUM – DROIT DES ASSURANCES

Introduction
by Rémi Moreau                                                                                

Les clauses d’assurance et la renonciation à la subrogation : la vision distincte des tribunaux québécois
by Nicholas Krnjevic                                                                     

La responsabilité des administrateurs et dirigeants et les sources d’indemnisation
by Emmanuelle Poupart                                                               

Les derniers développements concernant l’obligation de défendre de l’assureur
by Ruth Veilleux     

Current Events
under the responsibility of Rémi Moreau

1. Tchernobyl, vingt ans après  – 2. Avril 2006 marque aussi un autre anniversaire tragique 3. Une attaque terroriste majeure (radioactive, chimique ou biologique) sur New York coûterait 778 milliards de dollars– 4. La terre a tremblé à nouveau en Indonésie – 5. Autres grands risques pour l’industrie américaine : l’asbestose et les dommages environnementaux – 6. Croissance de l’industrie américaine de l’assurance de dommages malgré les catastrophes naturelles de 2005 – 7. Les principaux marchés d’assurance vont demeurer à la baisse en 2006 selon RIMS – 8. ING Canada, le plus gros assureur de dommages au Canada – 9. Standard Life en voie de démutualisation – 10. Swiss Re : le premier réassureur mondial – 11. La fin d’Axa Re –
12. Richard Ward, le nouveau directeur général du Lloyd’s, l’outsider, l’homme nouveau aux lourds défis à affronter 13. Vers une nouvelle guerre civile aux États-Unis : une licence fédérale automatique aux assureurs étatiques ? – 14. Une décision judiciaire opposant un assureur du World Trade Center et son entreprise de conciergerie – 15. KPMG prévoit un vaste mouvement de concentration de l’assurance mondiale – 16. Une souscription mexicaine internationale pour le risque tremblement de terre – 17. Une première en Chine : une licence est accordée à une compagnie d’assurance étrangère – 18. La nanotechnologie : un nouveau risque assurable qui passe par la prévention – 19. Axa France affiche ses ambitions environnementales

Principes d’assurance selon des décisions émanant de la Cour de cassation

The Internet Surfer Page
We visited the Web site of the Standard Life Canada

Évaluation de projets : la valeur actualisée nette optimisée (VAN-O)
by Marcel Boyer et Éric Gravel 

We clarify the foundations of project evaluation under multiple risk sources and we show that the way the NPV method is typically applied in most firms and organizations violates some fundamental principles of value creation such as the additivity and absence of arbitrage principles. Project evaluation must be done through (i) decomposing the project cash flows into components corresponding to the different sources of risk and (ii) obtaining the present value of each component with a specific risk-adjusted discount rate. The value of the project is obtained as the sum of the present values so obtained. Alternatively, the different components can be corrected for their respective risk to obtain their certainty equivalents. The value of the project is then obtained as the sum of those certainty equivalents discounted at the unique, observable, identical, risk free rate.

Keywords: project evaluation, multiple risks.

The Board of Directors In Risk Governance
by James Greenhill   

While the Board of Directors is not expected to carry out risk management for the organization, the Board serves to prevent downfalls that could stop the organization from achieving its goals or even threaten its survival. The author shows the link between the strategic Board’s role and Enterprise Risk Management.

Le système d’assurance-santé en France
by Bertrand Venard

The goal of this article is to present the French health insurance system. Firstly, the author examines the main characteristics of this system, with special attention to its mutations. Secondly, he describes the French insurance companies operations in the area of complementary sickness insurance.

Les clauses d’assurance et la renonciation à la subrogation : la vision distincte des tribunaux québécois
by Nicholas Krnjevic                                                                     

Commercial leases generally require that the tenant maintain the leased premises in good repair. In the event of loss caused by the tenant’s negligence, the landlord would have the right to sue for the damages it has suffered resulting there from. However, a trilogy of cases decided by the Supreme Court of Canada in the mid-1970’s held that if the lease stipulated that property-damage insurance was either to be taken out by the landlord, or paid for by the tenant, both the landlord and its subrogated insurer were barred from claiming for any losses that either were or should have been insured in the manner provided for in the lease. Subsequent appellate decisions have extended this principle such that the tenant’s covenant to insure the leased premises immunizes the landlord from claims arising from the perils that were to be insured.

The principles set out in the Supreme Court of Canada’s trilogy were adopted without reservation by the Quebec Court of Appeal in the mid-1980’s. However, over the course of the past fifteen years, the Courts of this Province have shown an increased willingness to give these insuring clauses much more limited effect than have the Courts of Canada’s Common-Law provinces.

This article analyzes the principles set out in the Supreme of Canada trilogy, considers the jurisprudential solutions adopted by the Courts of both Quebec and the Common Law provinces, and suggests that the broad interpretation adopted by the Common-Law Courts is a more faithful reflection of the Supreme Court’s vision.

La responsabilité des administrateurs et dirigeants et les sources d’indemnisation
by Emmanuelle Poupart

Any company or corporation will act through its various committees namely the Board of Directors, the committees of the Board, the shareholders’ meeting and its Officers. The law provides that the affairs of the company are administered through the Board of Directors which includes one or a few Directors. The Directors have the power to take decisions with respect to the internal management of the business but also with respect to its outside operations. The exercise of such powers is limited by a significant amount of duties and obligations which the Directors have to respect towards the company, the shareholders and third parties. The Directors are also subject to certain statutory obligations which are found in the various corporate statutes. We outline in this text some of the duties, obligations and sources of liabilities of the Directors and Officers and also present the available sources of indemnification namely the Directors and Officers liability insurance policy.

Les derniers développements concernant l’obligation de défendre de l’assureur
by Ruth Veilleux     

The authors are consistent on the subject. And for a good reason. It is all about the duty to defend. The American insurers estimated that in the year 2000 the annual expenses in costs for defence exceeded 20 billion dollars. In Quebec and in Canada, these costs are also very significant and continuously increasing.

The occurrence of an event triggers two distinct requirements for the insurer: The duty to defend and the duty to indemnify. When he is being sued, or threatened to be sued, the insured should first of all ask himself: Who is going to defend me and who is going to pay the costs of my defence? Whether it is by settlement or by judgement, the indemnification should come in second place when it comes to the concerns of the insured.

Although general principles are well understood, certainties are rare and questioning still remains regarding some particular situations.

In order to identify practical standards, we intend to re-examine some fundamental notions. A particular analysis will be made on the evolution of the case law concerning a tripartite relation between the insurer, the insured party and the lawyer ad litem. We will also try to answer some outstanding questions such as: the consideration of extrinsic proof, possible refund of expenses for a defence provided by the insurer as well as the connection between the duty to defend and the limit fixed by the insurance contract.