Deferred Prosecution Agreements and Directors Liability
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Coverage under Side B
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A company is permitted to indemnify its directors by virtue of section 234 of the CA 2006 as regards third-party actions (with some exceptions) (Section 3.2.2). Such indemnification is not a legal requirement,1 but a company may opt to offer such a provision in order to ameliorate the directorship role and thus facilitate recruitment. Where offered, a company may seek cover under Side B in order to transfer its liability through insurance and obtain its own indemnification for indemnifying its director(s).2 Side B is commonly referred to within a policy as “company reimbursement cover” and operates in practice as a form of balance sheet protection. It is thus the “Side” of D&O coverage which most commonly responds.