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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OLDWICK - JANUARY 20, 2017 02:30 PM (EST)
In this A.M.BestTV episode, a panel of industry associations leaders discuss an announced covered agreement that would allow U.S. companies to operate in European markets, and say that questions remain over equivalence and whether the deal comports with U.S. regulatory systems. Click on http://www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=pcjf2117 to view the entire program.
Leigh Ann Pusey, president and chief executive officer, American Insurance Association, spoke about how she and her colleagues view the agreement. “This panel thinks that the agreement is a good deal for the United States,” she said. “It protects us from some of the concerns we have had about Solvency II and the burdens that it was placing on U.S. carriers and the discriminatory practices that U.S. carriers were experiencing in Europe. This agreement addresses those, along with some collateral and some information exchange issues.”
Frank Nutter, president, Reinsurance Association of America, discussed the future of the Dodd-Frank Act given the new U.S. administration. “The NAIC has called for the elimination of the Federal Insurance Office. Whether or not that is the appropriate step for Congress to take, we feel very strongly that the authority to enter into these international agreements to deal with some cross-border insurance and reinsurance is important. But there is that other debate about what role the federal government should play, and that will likely play out pretty early in this Congress.”
Charles Chamness, president and chief executive officer, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, said he had some concerns about the agreement. “We agree that mutual recognition, greater understanding and putting down some of that understanding in this agreement is productive,” said Chamness. “The concept of equivalence has a very specific meaning under Solvency II; however, it appears that we have not hit that objective in this negotiation. We are all evaluating that.”
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