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The U.S. Treasury Department and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative said they will sign the bilateral agreement between the United States and the European Union regarding regulation of insurance and reinsurance.

In addition to signing the so-called covered agreement in the coming weeks, the Trump Administration said it also plans to issue a policy statement on implementation.

The Treasury statement called the pact, which was negotiated by the Obama Administration in talks that began in 2015, an important step in making U.S. companies more competitive in domestic and foreign markets and making regulations efficient, effective and appropriately tailored.

The Treasury statement also said the bilateral agreement benefits the U.S. economy and consumers by affirming Americas state-based system of insurance regulation, providing regulatory certainty, and increasing growth opportunities for U.S. insurers.

The agreement which was announced on January 13 in the final days of the Obama Administration addresses three areas of insurance oversight: reinsurance, group supervision and the exchange of insurance information between regulators.

The agreement is known as a covered agreement, which is an agreement between the U.S. and one or more foreign governments, authorities or regulatory entities, regarding prudential measures with respect to insurance or reinsurance.

U.S. Fact Sheet on Covered Agreement with European Union

According to the negotiators, U.S. and EU insurers operating in the other market will only be subject to oversight by the regulators in their home jurisdiction. For the United States, the agreement preserves the primacy of state regulation the U.S. of U.S. insurance groups while for the EU, it preserves the primacy of EU oversight of EU insurance groups.

The agreement calls for an end to collateral and local presence requirements for EU and U.S. reinsurers.

European reinsurers and regulators have wanted the U.S. to lift reinsurance collateral requirements on foreign reinsurers and treat them like U.S. reinsurers. European reinsurers and Lloyds of London syndicates complain they are disadvantaged compared to American competitors by the additional capital and collateral requirements of some states. They note that they must also now comply with new EU solvency [Solvency II) rules.

The limitations on worldwide group oversight outside of the home jurisdiction include limits on matters involving solvency and capital, reporting and governance. Supervisors however preserve the ability to request and obtain information about worldwide activities which could harm policyholders interests or financial stability in their territory.

The agreement encourages insurance supervisory authorities in the U.S. and the EU to continue to exchange supervisory information on insurers and reinsurers that operate in the U.S. and EU markets.

In January, the Treasury Department released a fact sheet on the agreement and said the final legal text of the agreement had been given to Congress as required by the Dodd-Frank Act.

The European Union approval process involves the Council and the European Parliament.

Michael McRaith, the former director of the Federal Insurance Office (FIO) within Treasury who left his post a week after the agreement was announced, has called negotiating a covered agreement with the European Union a critical step toward leveling the playing field for American insurers and reinsurers.

Several major insurance organizations including the American Insurance Association (AIA), the American Council of Life Insurers (ACLI) and the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA) welcomed the agreement in January, as did the International Underwriting Association, which represents wholesale re/insurance companies in the London market.

However, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC) has not been as welcoming of a covered agreement. It has called the pact a proposed solution to an invented problem the question of European regulators deeming our regulatory system equivalent.

State insurance regulators have also expressed concern that a covered agreement could potentially undermine the U.S. system of state regulation of insurance. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) has been critical of the agreement, warning that it might be used as a backdoor to force foreign regulations on U.S. companies.

Another state regulatory group, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators (NCOIL), which has also criticized the pact, is waiting to see what the Trump Administration policy statement on implementation says. NCOIL CEO Tom Considine, speaking at the Super Regional P/C Insurer Conference in Wisconsin on Monday, said he believes the policy statement will be an attempt to reconcile the agreement with support for state-based regulation but he questioned if this is possible. Considine, a former New Jersey banking and insurance commissioner, termed the agreement great for Wall Street and horrible for Main Street.

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Trump Administration to Sign Insurance Regulation Pact with ... - Insurance Journal

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The EUs social media team posted an interactive vote on Facebook so ordinary members of the public could deliver their verdict on Jean-Claude Junckers five proposals for the project going forward.

But the innovative post sparked anger and derision amongst some users who accused eurocrats of showing open bias by choosing a tearful face for the option to devolve more powers back to member states.

EU officials are trying find ways to engage with more young people after surveys showed worrying numbers across the continent now feel completely detached from Brussels.

But placing yourself in the hands of social media is always a high risk strategy, and it appeared to backfire today as many Facebook users took the opportunity to give the ailing project a kicking.

Mr Juncker has proposed five pathways for the future of the EU, which range from reverting back to a simple trading alliance right through to the creation of a full United States of Europe.

The chief eurocrat has already dismissed going back to economic ties as unworkable, and his officials echoed that sentiment by choosing a crying emoji to represent voting for that option.

A thumbs up was used to vote for the creation of a two speed Europe, a heart represented doing less but more efficiently, a laughing face meant carrying on as normal and a wow emoji championed the superstate option.

The comments below the post were split between those offering supportive remarks and others mocking the project, with several asking why dismantling the club was not an option.

Ryan Bailey asked: Why theres no option for dismantle the European Union? I don`t think Europe has a future.

Dillon Slowey echoed that thought, adding: Is there an option to abolish the EU?

Rickard Ankar said: I want your supranational union to die. Long live democracy, long live the nation state.

Others offered more nuanced criticism, suggesting that a perceived lack of democracy at the heart of the EU and the dominance of Germany and France were more pressing issues.

Sander de Regt wrote: I like the EU but I dont like it that I cannot choose the persons who think of new ideas.

Also I dont like how Germany and France plays like they are the boss. Everyone should be equal. Also this companies who are manipulating laws should be banned.

Christopher Talbot said: Personally, I would like to see the EU as more democratic, better run, less bureaucratic organisation.

And Saba Buadze mused: Doing more economical and less political things. Before European union were less political everything was great.

Some also suggested the poll itself was not fair, pointing out that eurocrats were clearly showing a preference for certain options through which emoji they had chosen to represent them.

Darran Gange wrote: Come on European Commission, you can't seriously suggest that this is a fair poll. Someone had to choose what the sad emoji would be.

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Geert Wilders wants to 'de-Islamicise' the Netherlands, hopes clashes between Turkish-Dutch protesters and the police, along with Ankara's accusations of Dutch 'fascism', will help bolster his chances of finishing first

However, equal number in were people expressing optimism and encouragement about the future of the EU, with many saying they would like to see more cooperation in future.

Arnout Posthumus wrote: Doing more together is the perfect way. But we know that its rather impossible.

Michael Holz added: In my opinion it is a question of doing the 'right' things together on the European level. Common problems are tackled commonly.

Everything else stays in the competence of the member states. Personally, I think that the EU must adopt a federal structure.

And Rudy Maertens implored: Find a way to cancel Brexit... we are better together... and I know this post will get trolled, but I'm still hopeful there is a way.

Original post:
'Where's the option to abolish you?' EU mercilessly mocked after running emoji poll online - Express.co.uk

GENEVA (Reuters) - The European Union and Britain plan to put forward a joint proposal for reform of the terms of their World Trade Organization (WTO) membership in September or October, an EU source said on Monday, as London negotiates to leave the EU.

The two sides are also discussing sharing liabilities from trade disputes including WTO litigation over Airbus (AIR.PA) subsidies in a long-running case with the United States, the EU source said.

Currently we are in talks with the United Kingdom to come to a joint approach on the matter, on all the aspects of the divorce, with regard to the WTO. And I would think that, come the month of September/October, we will be able to come jointly to the rest of the (WTO) membership, the EU source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The joint approach would address aspects of the EU's WTO membership terms, known as its WTO "schedules", that are not easily split between Britain and the other 27 EU members: agricultural tariff quotas, agricultural subsidies and commitments on services trade.

The plan is (that) we would explain together how we would see the disentanglement of the United Kingdom from the EU commitments and schedules, the source said.

The joint approach would also deal with Britain's wish to join the WTO's Government Procurement Agreement, which liberalises access to procurement markets between signatories. The EU is a member of the agreement but Britain is not.

Asked how important it was to finalize revision of the WTO terms of membership before the EU and Britain formally divorce, the source said: I have the impression that the United Kingdom believes that is important.

Britain's Brexit minister, David Davis, pledged to "get down to work" as he kicked off a first full round of negotiations in Brussels on Monday but, a year after Britons voted to leave the EU, their government seemed at war with itself over the divorce terms.

Britain also faces a multi-billion euro bill as it leaves the EU, to cover ongoing commitments.

One of those costs may be a provision to cover damages that could be awarded to the United States in the world's largest trade dispute, the 13-year-old battle over allegedly illegal subsidies to plane giants Airbus and Seattle-based Boeing (BA.N).

"I think that is also part of the discussion," the EU source said, without giving any details. "I'm not sure that will be clarified already. I think we're now working first and foremost on schedules."

Reporting by Tom Miles; writing by Stephanie Nebehay; Editing by Kevin Liffey

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EU and Britain to present post-Brexit plan on WTO membership - Reuters

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe (center) says France will use "all means" to make Paris more attractive for international finance.

AFP/Ian Langsdon

For once, foreign bankers are the most popular people in Europe, as pols in Ireland, France, Germany, and beyond try to recruit financial operations that will likely be disrupted by the United Kingdoms exit from the European Union.

Henry Grabar is a staff writer for Slates Moneybox.

Friday was the deadline for international financial institutions based in the U.K. to submit contingency plans to the Bank of England explaining what they plan to do in a variety of Brexit scenarios, including a hard Brexit, meaning a situation in which the U.K. leaves the European Union without a trade deal in place.

That would make things very complicated for the thousands of bankers who have made London Europes financial capital over the past two decades. The head of the London Stock Exchange predicted in September that the country could lose 100,000 jobs if (or, it now seems, when) the City of London loses passporting rights, which allow companies in London to sell services within the E.U. In April, Sam Woods, the head of the Bank of Englands regulatory arm, asked banks to send in their plans.

Those documents have not been made public, and so far most banks have been happy to play the fieldthe past few weeks have been marked by intense international campaigning, as Dublin, Frankfurt, and Paris compete to seduce bank chiefs.

Barclays head Res Staley and JPMorgan head Jamie Dimon, for example, have both met with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in the past few weeks. Barclays decided months ago to establish its European base in Dublin;JPMorgan has said it will move jobs from London to Dublin, Frankfurt, and Luxembourg. The Irish capital has long been a hub for back-office banking jobs because of its low taxes and English-speaking culture.Its a beautiful city, with great real estate and an open business climate, Dimon told JPMorgan staff on his visit, according to the Guardian.

Paris has also stepped up its game. In October, the capitals outlying business district and banking center, La Dfense, launched a campaign: Tired of the fog? Try the frogs. Both the region and the national government have also worked to attract firms.

In a memo sent earlier this month and published this weekend by the Mail on Sunday tabloid, the City of Londons special representative to the E.U., Jeremy Browne, said the French were the worst in Europe. They are crystal clear about their underlying objective: the weakening of Britain, the on-going degradation of the City of London What we are witnessing is a whole-of-France collective endeavor, made more giddy and more assertive by the election of Macron. French president Emmanuel Macronworked as an investment banker before serving in the cabinet of his socialist predecessor, Francois Hollande.

It is entirely in line with the tone set by French representatives currently crashing conspicuously around London, making heroic relocation promises and pouring cold water on the propositions of alternative EU financial centers, Brown wrote. One example of this he gave was French officials trashing the more civil-minded Luxembourg, which has also pitched itself as a destination for Londons financial workers.

Two weeks ago, the French prime minister douard Philippea moderate member of the French center-right party before he joined up with Macronpitched a package of bank-friendly reforms to a conference of bankers in Paris last week, including scrapping the top payroll tax bracket and creating an international court to handle cases in English. "The message I want to share with you is clear and it is simple: the French government is committed to boost Paris' attractiveness by all means," Philippe said.

And because France and Germany are both now trying to lure banks, a six-year effort to impose an E.U. tax on financial transactions may be dead, Bloomberg reports:

Frankfurt, a longtime hub for banking on the continent, has recruited the likes of Standard Chartered and Goldman Sachs.

The question for bankers is whether they can trust Paris. Franois Hollande won a landslide election in 2011 by declaring finance his true enemy. Macron may be riding high right now, but it seems unlikely the French are suddenly hot on bankers. Humiliating London and proving its inferiority to Paris, however? a va.

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It's a Steamy Summer for European Leaders Trying to Seduce London's Bankers - Slate Magazine (blog)

The former Prime Minister stuttered through his answer when Sky News Sophy Ridge grilled him on his ambitions for the European Union and Labour Party reforms, which are now both dead in the water.

In their wide-ranging interview, Mr Blair covered his latest plans to thwart Brexit, his views on Jeremy Corbyns hard-left policy and his career as a politician.

But the arch Remoaner was left stumped when the journalist quizzed him on his failed ambition to have the UK at the forefront of the EU project.

Ridge said it had been unpicked, adding: Have you failed?

SKY NEWS

If Britain carries through Brexit, were going to diminish ourselves

Tony Blair

Mr Blair could only produce a nervous laugh in response as he formulated his answer.

I dont know whether so much Ive failed, he said. Has opinion moved against those two positions?

Im not sure about that, one of the things I think is important right now is to be aware enough to say, Look, politics has taken a turn in these last two or three years, and I didnt really anticipate.

For me, Im back almost like a student of politics Im studying and thinking about it, and trying to work it out.

But I think, if Britain carries through Brexit, if we really do this, were going to diminish ourselves.

Mr Blair also used his interview to claim he has held talks with key players in Brussels about how they could thwart Brexit.

He told Ridge he believes it absolutely necessary that Brexit doesnt happen because of the damage the divorce is doing the UK politically and economically

The former Prime Minister said: I think its possible now that Brexit doesnt happen.

AFP/Getty Images

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'It can be stopped, if the British people decide that having seen what it means, the pain-gain analysis doesnt stack up'

I think its absolutely necessary that it doesnt happen because every day is bringing us fresh evidence that its doing us damage economically, certainly doing us damage politically.

He even insisted that Brexiteers in Britain were changing their mind, with some even changing their mind about the split.

Mr Blair added: I think public opinion is moving on it. Look, this time last year we were the fastest growing economy in the G7, were now the slowest, our savings ratio is at the lowest for 50 years, the investment community internationally has gone really negative on us, our currency is down 10-12 per cent.

Investment in the motorcar industry, for example, is down 30 per cent. Living standards are stagnating.

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'Have you failed?' Blair left speechless after Ridge questions his European Union legacy - Express.co.uk