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LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A federal judge has thrown out a $700 million punitive damages award won by the state of California in a lawsuit stemming from the takeover of failed insurer Executive Life by French investors. U.S. District Court Judge A. Howard Matz concluded Tuesday that the state's Department of Insurance was not entitled to receive the $700 million awarded by jurors in July as part of their judgment against French company Artemis SA, according to a summary of the order posted on the court's Web site. "This order addresses only the question of whether plaintiff (Insurance Commissioner) John...

The state's giveaway sale of Executive Life and the insurer's fat portfolio of junk bonds is the gift that keeps on giving - political headaches, that is. State Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, who seized the troubled insurer in 1991 and then approved its sale, desperately wants to deflect the onus for the multibillion-dollar debacle that left tens of thousands of disabled and retired annuitants twisting in the wind. But try as he might to shift the burden onto the French buyers, it appears they will at most cede only a tiny fraction of their huge profits from the transaction. A...

LOS ANGELES – A federal judge urged both sides to resolve their differences after a jury found that a French company owned by billionaire Francois Pinault conspired to defraud California regulators as part of a scheme to take over failed insurer Executive Life. However, while ruling on the state's lawsuit, the jury cleared Pinault himself of any involvement in the scheme. Jurors also considered three allegations that the firm, Artemis SA, had caused harm to Executive Life policyholders. They found in favor of the defense on two of those counts. The rulings carried no immediate financial judgments. U.S. District Judge...

Even after sitting through eight weeks of complex testimony — some of it in French — the jury in the Executive Life Insurance Co. trial has been in no hurry to go home. Defying some early predictions of a quick verdict in the civil case, which pits state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi against one of the richest men in France, the jury has been deliberating since April 18 and has given little indication that a decision is imminent. In what could be a sign that judicial patience may be getting a bit strained, U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz told...

Talks collapsed over Mr Pinault's possible cooperation US prosecutors are to pursue a criminal probe into French bank Credit Lyonnais' purchase of insurer Executive Life. Prosecutors allege that the bank used illegal front companies to take over Executive Life in 1991. The announcement of an investigation follows a failure of the French and US Governments to agree a settlement. A successful prosecution could result in Credit Lyonnais losing its valuable US banking licence, as well as possible sanctions against individuals. At the centre of the case is French tycoon Francois Pinault, who allegedly looked after Executive Life's assets in...