Since 2012, the US Federal Insurance Office ("FIO"), the European Commission ("EC"), the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority ("EIOPA") and EU Member State national regulators have engaged in an insurance dialogue project to increase mutual understanding and enhance cooperation between the EU and the US. There are seven key areas that the Project Steering Committee ("the Committee") oversees, and in July 2014, an updated Way Forward document was published by the Committee giving recommendations in these areas—the first such document since December 2012, which takes into account developments since the previous document. This newWay Forward document incorporates the following updated objectives and recommendations:

Professional Secrecy/Confidentiality

  • In 2012, the Committee stated the objective of encouraging the expanded use of Memoranda of Understanding ("MoU") between US states and EU Member States. Now, the Committee wishes to assess the effectiveness of bilateral MoUs on exchanges of information.

Group Supervision

  • By the end of 2014, the Committee now aims to have completed an evaluation of the use of a covered agreement to achieve the group supervision objectives in the Way Forward document.

Solvency and Capital Requirements

  • The Committee aims to provide a form for the bilateral exchange of views among experts from agencies within the US and EU with regard to the development of basic capital requirements, a high-loss absorbency requirement and an insurance capital standard.

Reinsurance and Collateral Requirements

  • The Committee recommends that the EU, US Treasury and FIO, in consultation with state insurance regulators, take initial steps toward a covered agreement by the end of 2014.

Peer Reviews

  • The Committee aims for the EU to implement a system to oversee national authorities with regard to how they supervise insurers.

Independent Third-Party Review and Supervisory On-Site Examinations

  • The Committee recommends that the EU consider the need for more consistent professional standards surrounding the credentials of actuaries and for actuarial opinions to be made public.

The Project also held a public event on October 25, 2014 for discussion of the evolution in group supervision.

Originally published 11 November 2014

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