Southport Lane Management Insurance Empire Collapse

Southport Lane Management boast 2 insurance carriers, 2 offshore reinsurers, some buildings and other insurers’ investments however this empire was built on questionable assets and is now being dismantled. This event has raised some questions about state regulators which failed to detect potential problems of the company and the flow of new money into the insurance business.

Alexander Chatfield is a young private-equity investor in his mid-20s, state regulators approved his request to purchase two insurance companies in 2013 even though he had limited industry experience. Then after a few months regulators seized both companies because of concerns about the companies finances, exposing the flaws in how states screen prospective buyers.

Chatfield, 28 founded the private equity firm Southport Lane Management LLC in 2010, and he bought insurance carriers including workers’ compensation writer Dallas National in Texas and personal lines writer Imperial Fire & Casualty in Louisiana. Southport transferred Dallas National to Delaware and renamed Freestone, it is currently in the process of liquidation in Delaware while Imperial was seized and sold by Louisiana regulators.

His company also bought Redwood Reinsurance which is based in Cayman Islands reinsurer. Last April it reported it was selling its reinsurance business, Southport Re, to Lennox Investments.

It is alleged that Burns switched millions in stocks and bonds from the companies into a personal account and replaced those investments with non-publicly traded or valueless assets, worthless, and in some cases non-existent which include a Caravaggio painting of uncertain authenticity.

It was reported that Mr. Burns checked into a mental-health ward at New York’s Bellevue Hospital a year ago he also resigned from Southport Lane. 

Uninsured Citizens Can Still Avoid being Penalized by Obamacare

Citizens who have not yet purchased a health insurance plan can still avoid federal fines, since Washington has offered a second chance. The enrollment period will give a million people who have not yet signed up for Obamacare a one-time chance to enroll.

Most people has negative feedback with President Obama’s healthcare law it has been criticized by a lot of people. The average federal fine is at $170 which will be deducted from tax refund. 2015 will be the first year in which fines are being collected from uninsured people who are able to afford insurance.

The low and middle income individuals and self employed businessmen are among the people fined for not opting for affordable coverage. The government said that about 4 million people will have to pay fines this year if they don't sign up for the coverage during the limited-time window.

The limited time window to enroll for healthcare coverage will be open up to April 30. The penalties for this year will be higher, at $325 for 12 months.

House Sales in the US Down by 4.9% in January

House Sales in the U.S. significantly slowed down in January, according to The National Association of Realtors in a statement. The sales of homes that are already existing was down 4.9% in January to a seasonally adjusted yearly rate of 4.82 million.

The steady employment growth and low mortgage rate have not yet encourage buyers.  Poor sales last year had set up expectations of a strong rebound in 2015, but there are no signs of that happening yet. The government reported an additional 1 million new jobs over the past three months that would have spurred home-buying but it didn't, unless somebody is lying (The Big Lie: 5.6% Unemployment).