Note 18. Commitments and contingencies Legal proceedings Sirius Group, and the insurance and reinsurance industry in general, are routinely subject to claims-related litigation and arbitration in the normal course of business, as well as litigation and arbitration that do not arise from, or are not directly related to, claims activity. Sirius Group estimates of the costs of settling matters routinely encountered in claims activity are reflected in the reserves for unpaid loss and LAE. (See Note 5. ) Sirius Group considers the requirements of ASC 450, Contingencies (ASC 450), when evaluating its exposure to non-claims-related litigation and arbitration. ASC 450 requires that accruals be established for litigation and arbitration if it is probable that a loss has been incurred and it can be reasonably estimated. ASC 450 also requires that litigation and arbitration be disclosed if it is probable that a loss has been incurred or it there is a reasonable possibility that a loss may have been incurred. The following summarizes one, ongoing non-claims related litigation: Tribune Company In September 2011, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Law Debenture Company of New York and Wilmington Trust Company (collectively referred to as Plaintiffs), in their capacity as trustees for certain senior notes issued by the Tribune Company (Tribune), filed lawsuits in various jurisdictions (the Noteholder Actions) against numerous defendants including Sirius Group in their capacity as former shareholders of Tribune, seeking recovery of the proceeds from the sale of common stock of Tribune in connection with Tribunes leveraged buyout in 2007 (the LBO). Tribune filed for bankruptcy in 2008 in the Delaware bankruptcy court (the Bankruptcy Court). The Bankruptcy Court granted Plaintiffs permission to commence these LBO-related actions, and in 2011, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation granted a motion to consolidate the actions for pretrial matters and transferred all such proceedings to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (the SDNY). Plaintiffs seek recovery of the proceeds received by the former Tribune shareholders on a theory of constructive fraudulent transfer asserting that Tribune purchased or repurchased its common shares without receiving fair consideration at a time when it was, or as a result of the purchases of shares, was rendered, insolvent. Certain subsidiaries of Sirius Group received approximately $6.1 million for Tribune common stock tendered in connection with the LBO. In addition, Sirius Group in its capacity as a former shareholder of Tribune, along with thousands of former Tribune shareholders (collectively, the "Shareholder Defendants"), have been named as defendants in an adversary proceeding brought by the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors of the Tribune Company (the Committee), on behalf of the Tribune Company, which seeks to avoid the repurchase of shares by Tribune in the LBO on a theory of intentional fraudulent transfer (the Committee Action). Tribune emerged from bankruptcy in 2012, and a litigation trustee replaced the Committee as plaintiff in the Committee Action. This matter was consolidated for pretrial matters with the Noteholder Actions in the SDNY and was stayed pending the motion to dismiss in the Noteholder Actions. An omnibus motion to dismiss the shareholder defendants in the Committee Action was filed in May 2014, and was granted on January 6, 2017. The plaintiff moved to amend its fifth amended complaint to add a constructive fraudulent conveyance claim against the shareholder defendants. On August 24, 2017, the SDNY denied the plaintiffs motion without prejudice. However, on March 8, 2018, the plaintiff moved to renew its request to amend the complaint based on the Supreme Courts decision in Merit Mgmt Grp. LP. v. FTI Consulting, Inc., holding that the safe harbor protections of Section 546(e) (which prevent the bankruptcy trustee from unwinding certain transactions) did not apply where a transfer is conducted through a financial institution that is neither the debtor, nor the transferee, but serves only as a conduit. On May 16, 2018 the SDNY recalled its mandate in connection with the dismissal of the constructive fraudulent conveyance claim. On July 9, 2018, the Judge requested the parties to submit a joint letter addressing a potential global resolution and the status of discovery. While both the Trustee and the Shareholder Defendants were in favor of exploring settlement discussions, they have voiced very different views about the manner in which any such a settlement discussion would take place. No amount has been accrued in connection with this matter as of September 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017.