IBA opens May 18 re/insurance event

Insurance law is having one of those moments where every pressure point seems to be live at once. Cyber risk keeps mutating, mass-tort claims keep testing old policy language, and re(ibanet.org) is the backdrop for a new London conference the International Bar Association is now actively promoting for May 18–19, 2026. The event is called *Insuranc(ibanet.org) discussion on claims, regulatory and transactions*, and it will be held at Fishmongers’ Hall. (ibanet.org) exactly? This is not a general insurance expo. It is an IBA Insurance Committee conference aimed much more at lawyers, senior advisers and in-house decision-makers dealing with hard insurance problems — claims, regulation, transactions and reinsurance obligations. The IBA listing shows the programme runs across two days in London, with booking now open and delegate search availability flagged from April 10, 2026. (ibanet.org) ### Why does the wording matter? The subtitle tells you the real angle. This is not just (ibanet.org)yber, claims, regulation and transactions — basically the areas where uncertainty turns into litigation, coverage fights or deal risk. That matters because those are the places where insurers and reinsurers stop talking in abstractions and start arguing over contract language, disclosure, aggregation and who has to pay. (ibanet.org) ### What will they actually talk about? The agenda is(ibanet.org)ctical compliance challenges, M&A in insurance, mass-tort coverage clashes, cyber risk and business interruption, the reinsurer’s duty to pay and follow settlements clauses, and how Brexit has reshaped the sector ten years on. There are also roundtable or table-talk style discussions, which usually means the event is trying to get beyond panel platitudes and into peer problem-solving. (ibanet.org) ### Why is cyber such a(ibanet.org)fast-moving operational reality. Business interruption, ransomware, vendor outages and regulatory duties do not sit neatly inside old coverage buckets. The IBA programme explicitly pairs cyber with transactions and regulation, which is a clue that the hard part is no longer just underwriting the exposure — it is handling the legal and commercial fallout when the event hits. (ibanet.org) ### Why bring reinsurance into it? Because primary insurers can (ibanet.org)et pain sticks. One listed session focuses on the reinsurer’s obligation to pay and on “follow the settlements” clauses — the part of the machinery that determines whether a cedant’s settlement gets backed upstream or challenged later. In uncertain markets, that is not a niche technicality. It is the financial backstop. (ibanet.org) ### Who is this really for? The pricing gives the game away. Fees run from GBP(ibanet.org)GBP 1,010 for non-members, with corporate counsel priced at GBP 745 and IBA members at GBP 830. That is professional-conference pricing, not a broad trade-show model. The likely audience is people who need to make or defend decisions, not just collect business cards. (inicop.org) ### Why London, and why now? London is still one of the key places where insurance, (ibanet.org)n, rising compliance complexity and the persistence of large claims fights, and the city makes sense as a venue. The timing also matters — mid-May is close enough to current market debates that the sessions can stay practical rather than historical. (ibanet.org) ### Bottom line? The real story is not that another conference got scheduled. It is that the IBA(inicop.org)ction risk and reinsurance payment disputes — into one two-day agenda. That is a pretty clean signal about where insurance lawyers think the stress is right now. (ibanet.org)