In Re Executive Life Ins. Co.
Quackenbush v. Aurora National Life Assurance Co.
Opinion
Opinion
Thompson, J.
This is the fourth opinion of the Court of Appeal spawned by insolvency proceedings involving Executive Life Insurance Company (ELIC), a series which threatens to eclipse in scope, if not in time, the 30-year history of similar past litigation involving Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company of California. In Texas Commerce Bank v. Garamendi (1992) 11 Cal.App.4th 460 [ 14 Cal.Rptr.2d 854 ] and Commercial Nat. Bank v. Superior Court (1993) 14 Cal.App.4th 393 [ 17 Cal.Rptr.2d 884 ] we recounted some of the background of these proceedings. We further summarize the background here to set the context of this opinion and to define various acronyms employed in it.
ELIC, a California-based life insurance company, had in the 1980’s issued conventional life insurance policies and annuities and also innovative annuity-like products known as Guaranteed Investment Contracts (GICs). These included contracts funding (1) pension and profit sharing plans (PensionGICs), (2) bond liability of municipalities (Muni-GICs), and (3) structured settlements reached in tort cases; as well as single premium immediate annuities certain (SPIAs) and single premium deferred annuities (SPDAs).