From 1983 to 1990, Mr. Corcoran served as the New York State Superintendent of Insurance. He served as Executive Vice President of American General. In that role, Mr. Corcoran directed enterprise-wide activities with respect to federal and state regulatory matters, represented the American General Financial Group’s interests and acted as New York counsel for the enterprise. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of American General Life of New York and Vice Chairman of The United States Life Insurance Company. He also served on the CEO Regulatory Steering Committee, the Retirement Security Steering Committee of the American Council of Life Insurance, and the Committee of Annuity Insurers.
While Superintendent, several of Mr. Corcoran’s reform measures gained national attention, particularly the development of model laws dealing with financial guaranty insurance and the model demutualization bill which was promulgated by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners.
At the request of fifteen Congressional Committees, Mr. Corcoran testified on various financial regulatory issues including investment limitations, the integration of financial services, financial guaranty insurance, and various solvency issues. In 1986, he was instrumental in drafting the New York Omnibus Liability Act.
This tort reform measure modified the doctrine of joint and several liability, established a new standard for appellate review and imposed penalties for frivolous litigation.
As a corporate partner in Winston & Strawn and Cadwalader, Mr. Corcoran specialized in insurance law, mergers and acquisitions, litigation, regulatory compliance and corporate governance.
In addition, Mr. Corcoran testified as an expert witness and was appointed to an Oversight Committee of the Board of Directors of United States Aviation Underwriters. He developed products for financial services companies and filed amicus curiae briefs in several appellate matters, including one before the Supreme Court of the United States.
While Superintendent and in private practice, he helped to expand the international market for U.S. insurance companies in Asia, Europe and Latin America. As a result, he developed working relationships with government officials throughout the world.
He has conducted seminars sponsored by the World Bank on insurance regulatory oversight in Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. He represented the United States Department of Commerce before the Insurance Committee of the Organization of Economic Cooperation Development (‘OECD”) in Paris on several occasions and is a member of the International Insurance Society.
Mr. Corcoran has represented clients before various state regulatory agencies for over 27 years. Over the last several years, he has made presentations on subjects impacting the insurance industry, including corporate governance, financial guaranty insurance and strategic planning for corporate growth and diversity, including mergers and acquisitions. He has participated in the resolution of many regulatory compliance settlements, the World Trade Center claims and class action settlements, and the design and implementation of mandated corporate governance and compliance programs. In addition, he completed multiple arbitrations as an ARIAS US Certified Arbitrator.
He received his B.A. from Iona College in 1966 and a J.D. from Fordham University of Law in 1969.
