The U.S. Department of the Treasury and the U.S. Trade Representative have ended the speculation about the fate of the Covered Agreement negotiated by the Obama Administration with the European Union by announcing their intention to sign the agreement.  The Covered Agreement covers prudential measures regarding insurance and reinsurance, including the issue of the requirement for collateral for ceding insurers to claim financial statement credit for reinsurance provided by non-U.S. reinsurers and what may be a functional substitute for a declaration of equivalence of the U.S. insurance/reinsurance market for purposes of Solvency II.  The announcement states that “the Administration also plans to issue a U.S. policy statement on implementation.”  It will be interesting to see whether the implementation statement addresses the substance of any of the criticisms of the Covered Agreement.  The Covered Agreement has been approved by the E.U. Council, although the European Parliament may be asked to approve it as well.