United States, European Union Sign Bilateral Insurance and Reinsurance Agreement

The United States and European Union recently signed the bilateral EU-US agreement on prudential insurance and reinsurance measures. 

The agreement—which is a "covered agreement" in the meaning of the Dodd-Frank Act for the United States and an agreement under Article 218 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union—addresses three areas of prudential insurance oversight: reinsurance, group supervision, and the exchange of insurance information between supervisors.

The agreement will lead to the elimination of collateral and local presence requirements for US and EU reinsurers operating in each other's markets.

By virtue of the agreement, US and EU insurers operating in the other's markets will only be subject to worldwide prudential insurance group oversight by supervisors in their home jurisdiction. 

The agreement also encourages insurance supervisory authorities in the United States and the European Union to continue to exchange supervisory information on insurers and reinsurers that operate in the US and EU markets. To support such information exchange between supervisory authorities, the agreement includes model information sharing memorandum of understanding provisions.

The agreement represents a major step forward in US-EU cooperation on insurance and reinsurance, conveying benefits to US and EU insurers and reinsurers operating across the Atlantic by offering them enhanced regulatory certainty while maintaining robust consumer protections.

US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer said, "The Agreement with the EU levels the playing field for the US insurance industry, thereby strengthening American competitiveness in the EU. The Agreement, which will be implemented consistent with the US policy statement, promotes US interests by protecting consumers here at home and relieving US insurers of compliance with potentially redundant EU regulatory requirements."

Read the text of the US policy statement and the joint US-EU statement on the signing of the covered agreement.

For more about the agreement, see the Captive.com articles "RIMS Backs Treasury Department's US-EU Covered Agreement on Reinsurance" and "State Insurance Regulation Supported in US-European Union Agreement."