ACI Brexit Panel Preview: Four Key Issues for International Insurers

On March 8, 2018, at the 14th ACI National Forum on Insurance Regulation in New York City, I’ll be participating in a panel discussion on Brexit and its implications for the global insurance community. With Brexit’s implementation over a year away and many details left to be decided, insurance professionals and their legal counsel have been left with little more than speculation on the unprecedented event’s effects on their industry. Some central issues and concerns, however, are crystalizing. The following are a few of the …

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“Twisting in the Wind: Covered Agreement Dangling by Uncertainty and Politics,” AIRROC Matters

In an article for AIRROC Matters,  Frederick J. Pomerantz examines the uncertain status of the “Covered Agreement,” a novel multilateral insurance agreement between the United States and the European Union. Early advocates hoped that the agreement would result in an “equivalency recognition” between U.S. and EU insurance regulatory systems. According to state insurance regulators, the agreement falls short of this, but does include provisions that would bring these insurance markets closer by eliminating obstacles for U.S. reinsurers doing business in the EU and by …

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The NAIC Appeals to the Secretary of the Treasury Over the Covered Agreement

While the U.S. and EU governments are deliberating on whether to accept the negotiated Covered Agreement (Agreement), state insurance regulators in the U.S. are continuing to express concerns about the Agreement. In February 2017, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) testified before Congress against the Agreement. On March 15, 2017, the NAIC continued these efforts by submitting a letter to the U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin detailing the NAIC’s concerns. One of the NAIC’s central concerns centers on the “significant confusion among current and …

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Leaders of Major House Committee Wade into Equivalency Discussions

On August 17, 2016, the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Ways and Means Committee waded into the ongoing discussions between U.S. and EU leaders regarding equivalency with the EU’s Solvency II and negotiation of a covered agreement. Chairman Kevin Brady and Ranking Member Sander Levin sent a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and United States Trade Representative (USTR) Michael Froman expressing concern that Solvency II “unfairly discriminates against U.S. insurance and reinsurance (“(re)insurance”) business.”

EU regulators are concerned about the lack …

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