The world of D&O insurance has changed: Previously, companies purchased D&O coverage to insure securities cases against officers and directors. After restrictive U.S. Supreme Court rulings, securities cases are less common. But D&O insurance is more important than ever because of heightened regulatory scrutiny of a wide range of issues including accounting improprieties, antitrust, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations, and oversight and disclosure of cybersecurity.

While D&O insurance has evolved to address well-known exposures like securities class actions, it does not provide the protection directors and officers expect due to evolving investigatory approaches of important government agencies. Fortunately, careful attention to today's regulatory exposures and relevant D&O policy provisions yields substantial improvements in protections afforded to D&O insureds.

What is a claim?The most important of these issues concerns the definition of "claim." While all D&O policies include coverage for actual lawsuits or monetary demands against an officer or director, today's environment necessitates coverage for injunctive relief. Even where coverage is unavailable for costs of complying with an injunctive order, most D&O policies insure costs to defend against suits for an injunction.