The American Association of Bank Directors announced today that AmTrust North America, Inc. (AmTrust), a highly respected Directors and Officers Liability (D&O) insurer for banks, has agreed to help support AABD’s Bank Director Certification Program through providing credits of up to 15% on D&O insurance sold to banks whose directors participate in the Program.

“We are delighted that AmTrust will support this Program, which assists bank directors to plan for and obtain suitable formal training in light of the increasing demands on them and, at the same time, potentially allows their banks to qualify for discounts on D&O policies,” Richard Whiting, Executive Director of AABD, said.

“The Comptroller of the Currency’s new enterprise risk management regulations (the ‘heightened expectation’ guidelines for national and federal savings banks with assets of $50 billion or more, and smaller institutions under certain circumstances) mandate formal training for bank board members, the first federal banking regulation of its kind to our knowledge,” Whiting said. “We would not be surprised if the OCC and perhaps the FDIC and Fed will now urge bank boards of banks of all sizes to have formal training programs in place.”

The American Association of Bank Directors (AABD) also announced that that it has endorsed AmTrust North America, Inc. (AmTrust) as a provider of D&O and related insurance to AABD board members including insurance to protect individual bank directors from civil money penalties (CMPs).

AmTrust is one of the first national carriers to offer insurance directly to individual bank directors to cover CMPs. “Bank directors are subject to CMPs under laws that do not limit such penalties to only those who engage in willful or negligent violations or unsafe or unsound banking practices,” David Baris, President of AABD said. “CMPs can be imposed on bank directors who have done nothing wrong.”

“Coverage for CMPs was available to bank directors for many years until several years ago when the FDIC interpreted a twenty year old regulation as prohibiting banks from having such coverage as a rider to its D&O policy even though directors were paying the premiums. This new policy stands on its own and is entirely independent of the bank’s D&O policy, and is paid for by bank directors, not their banks.”

About AABD

Founded in 1989, the non-profit American Association of Bank Directors is the only trade group in the United States solely devoted to bank directors and their information, education, and advocacy needs. The Institute for Bank Director Education was established in 1993 as the educational arm of AABD. Its purpose is to act as a clearinghouse for education programs designed for bank and savings institution directors that support the nationally recognized Bank Director Certification Program.

About AmTrust

AmTrust North America is a subsidiary of AmTrust Financial Services, Inc., headquartered in New York City. AmTrust is a multinational insurance holding company, which, through its insurance carriers, offers specialty property and casualty insurance products, including workers’ compensation, commercial automobile, general liability and extended service and warranty coverage. For more information about AmTrust, visit www.amtrustgroup.com, or call AmTrust toll-free at 866.203.3037.  For more information on AmTrust’s bank insurance products, contact your agent or call AmTrust at 866-327-6904.