As we previously reported, in November 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Trade Representative gave notice to Congress to initiate discussions with the European Union to enter into a Covered Agreement essentially addressing two major issues: (1) the equivalence of the U.S. insurance and reinsurance regulatory regime in the context of the EU’s Solvency II initiative; and (2) credit for reinsurance collateral requirements. Covered Agreements were introduced by the Dodd-Frank Act as a vehicle for limited federal intrusion into the regulation of the business of insurance and reinsurance by the states. We described the Covered Agreement process in a Special Focus article. On February 23, 2016, the United States and the European Union released a joint statement regarding the status of negotiations and advised that representatives met in Brussels on February 18-19, 2016, and that both sides agreed to move forward efficiently in pursuit of agreement and expressed their hope that such future Covered Agreement will improve regulatory and supervisory treatment for insurers and reinsurers operating on both sides of the Atlantic. The Joint Statement can be found here.