Letitia James filed a ‘notice of exception to the sufficiency of the surety’ seeking more information about Knight Specialty Insurance Company
Donald Trump’s $175m bond in his New York civil fraud case has been thrown into doubt by New York Attorney General Letitia James after she filed a notice asking for evidence that the out-of-state firm that underwrote it really has the money to pay up.
Ms James’s office submitted a “notice of exception to the sufficiency of the surety” on Thursday asking for further proof that California-based Knight Specialty Insurance Company (KSIC) has the capital to proceed on the former president’s behalf.
KSIC is not regulated by New York state, which means that it is not authorised to issue surety bonds in the Empire State and therefore cannot obtain a certificate from the New York Department of Financial Services, which is customarily part of any bond package.
I am not an expert and this is not my area.
Another article this morning (I’ll link if I can find it) said that a normal bond (construction surety etc.) follows the rules you laid out. There is specific language in NY legislation with extra requirements for court bonds.
eta: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trump-175-million-civil-fraud-bond-valid-new-york/
“For court bonds, as regulated by the CPLR, the law is clear about in-state license requirement,” said Pollock, who noted that there are surety bonds used in other industries like construction that would not be subject to that rule.