What’s happening in Ukraine right now is unspeakably tragic. Obviously, the safety of the citizenry there is of paramount importance. What’s of lesser concern, but still consequential, is how the conflict will play out for years to come domestically. Now that businesses ranging from oil companies to Netflix are pulling out of Russia, these companies will probably soon turn to insurers to recoup their losses. That may mean that American courts will become the forum for parsing the meaning of, and decisions emanating from, Russia v. Ukraine. After all, the excommunication of Russia from the global economy will cost hundreds of billions of dollars. When McDonald’s paused its operations there, it was turning its cheek on a market that accounted for nine percent of its revenue.  When Warner Bros. pulled The Batman from theaters in the country, it was forgoing the fourth-largest movie market in the world, responsible for 90 million tickets sold two years ago. 

Someone’s footing the bill, and the specifics of insurance coverage could mean the difference between hitting financial targets and explaining hard global truths to investors. What’s more, in some sectors, the availability of insurance informs the willingness of financial institutions to lend on the front end for new projects. The insurance industry tries to keep on top of risk on a going-forward basis, but that doesn’t happen without a reckoning of what previously went wrong.