Background of the Dispute
The story began when yacht sellers sued IYBA and other brokers in early 2024, claiming they conspired to charge “supracompetitive aggregate commission fees.” According to the sellers, the brokers inflated the market by forcing sellers to pay both their own broker and the buyer’s broker — a setup that allegedly drove up costs in ways that violated antitrust law.
By mid-2024, USLI went on offense, filing its own case against IYBA. The insurer argued that since the association is a rule-making body that sets professional standards for yacht brokers, the antitrust allegations “squarely” fell within the policy’s exclusion.
Magistrate Judge Ellen F. D’Angelo agreed, issuing a July 2025 report and recommendation that sided with the insurer. She found that the policy’s language — barring coverage for claims “arising out of, directly or indirectly resulting from, in consequence of, or in any way involving” standard setting — cast a net broad enough to exclude the yacht sellers’ lawsuit.
