The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Federal Insurance Office, or FIO,  released its report on the Breadth and Scope of the Global Reinsurance Market and the Critical Role Such Market Plays in Supporting Insurance in the United States.  The report is required under Title V of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

The report summarizes the history of reinsurance as a product and an industry, and outlines the various functions of reinsurance.  The report emphasizes that global reinsurers are vital to U.S. insurers and thus important for the general economic prosperity of the United States, including through enhanced availability and affordability of insurance.  As the report indicates, the important role of global reinsurers may be most apparent following natural disasters and other catastrophes.