Directors and Officers (D&O) insurance is the last line of defense for a company faced with lawsuits for wrongdoing. D&O insurance can protect the individual directors, officers and board members, as well as the company itself, from a breach of duty lawsuit. In the event that management, the directors, officers or the board have breached their fiduciary duty to the shareholders, or inadvertently violated securities law, a D&O policy will cover defense costs and protect the personal assets of the company’s directors and officers.
Evertas, the world’s first company dedicated to crypto insurance, recently added D&O insurance policies to its suite of insurance offerings for private and public companies involved with digital assets. The policies offer mitigation to a risk faced by each of our clients and prospects: the risk of losses associated with defending against a breach of duty suit.
The insurance industry standard in D&O is to require crypto industry policyholders to select their own representation and seek approval from their insurance company for the attorneys selected. Evertas puts their understanding of crypto risk to work on behalf of their clients, pre-selecting the most qualified and experienced attorneys, then leveraging their subject matter expertise to best help the client — whether through settlement or dismissal.
When it’s the insurer’s duty to defend the client per the policy contract, our customers should receive a more efficient defense. That should lead to more favorable outcomes like a settlement out of court, not going to trial, and / or settlement of lawsuits, which would allow the client to essentially continue their business unfettered. In the best-case scenario, these clients might have the lawsuit thrown out entirely.
Many companies entering the digital asset space — and even some that have been around for a while — have a crypto exclusion on their Directors & Officers policy or, at the very least, huge gaps in their coverage. This means that any claims arising out of an insured’s involvement, business operations, or any activities directly or indirectly involving digital assets are likely excluded. That’s a massive hole in coverage.
Evertas’ D&O insurance is available now, offering up to $5M in coverage to companies with direct or indirect exposure to digital assets around the world. Talk to your broker today to find out more.