Chubb responded that it would not pay on the policy, claiming it was essentially a gambling contract having nothing to do with the success or failure of the farmer's crop. The company also disavowed any responsibility for the actions of the agents who sold the coverage. Hatch said that the insurer was responsible for its agents' actions and that it had to pay on the policies. The dispute between Chubb and Hatch ended up in federal court in Cincinnati, Ohio, with one issue being whether Hatch could suspend Chubb's insurance license if it didn't pay on the policies. The court ruled for Hatch, and he was allowed to proceed with a hearing to determine whether Chubb's license should be revoked. Shortly before the hearing, Chubb paid the farmers under the policies. Corporate takeover hearings One of Hatch's early focal points was the regulation of corporate takeovers. The 1980s was a time of high-profile corporate raids around the nation, in which leveraged buyout artists made bids that often resulted in the closure or liquidation of the target company. In 1984, several Minnesota public companies secured enactment of a law that empowered the commerce commissioner to delay a tender offer to acquire securities of a Minnesota public company if the offer did not fully disclose the consequences of the takeover. In September 1984, just two months after the law became effective, Hatch issued the first in a series of orders that scheduled hearings designed to slow down the takeover of local companies, including Scientific Computers, Conwed, Dayton Hudson Corporation, St. Paul Companies, Pillsbury Companies, and Northwest Airlines. The hearings were controversial, with several takeovers thwarted by the hearing and testimony process, including bids for Scientific Computers, Dayton Hudson, St. Paul Companies, and Northwest Airlines. It became apparent over time that the hearings were interfering with shareholders' rights and simply serving to raise the bid on the stock being acquired. The takeover hearings largely stopped by 1989. Health insurance As insurance commissioner, Hatch liquidated several HMOs and self-insured health trusts that were insufficiently financed. Insolvent insurers and HMOs included the Duluth Employee Benefit Program, the Minnesota Real Estate Benefit Trust and Plan, More HMO of Virginia, and the LTV Self Insured Trust. Only a handful of major insurers and HMOs dominated the Minnesota health insurance market in 1987. Blue Cross, PHP and HealthPartners were the dominant players, and all had HMOs that were