Guides
The Federal Insurance Office and federal reach
What Treasury's Federal Insurance Office does and does not do: monitoring, covered agreements, TRIA support, reports, and where federal law touches insurance.
The Federal Insurance Office (FIO) is a small office inside the U.S. Treasury Department, created by Title V of the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010. It monitors the insurance sector, represents the United States in international insurance forums, helps Treasury run the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program and advises the Secretary on insurance policy. It is not a national insurance regulator: it does not license insurers, approve rates or forms, or take complaints, all of which remain with the states under the McCarran-Ferguson Act (How business insurance is regulated in the U.S.).
What the statute gives it
Treasury's FIO page lists these functions, drawn from Dodd-Frank Title V (U.S. Treasury, Federal Insurance Office):
- Monitor all aspects of the insurance sector.
- Monitor whether underserved communities and consumers can access affordable insurance products other than health insurance.
- Represent the U.S. on prudential aspects of international insurance matters, including at the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS).
- Serve as an advisory member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC).
- Assist the Treasury Secretary in administering the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program and advise the Secretary on national and international insurance matters.
By statute FIO also reports annually to the President and Congress on the insurance industry, coordinates federal efforts on international insurance issues and, with the U.S. Trade Representative, can negotiate covered agreements.
Covered agreements and preemption
This is FIO's sharpest tool, and it is narrow. A covered agreement is a written bilateral or multilateral agreement regarding prudential measures for insurance or reinsurance between the U.S. and one or more foreign governments. Treasury and the USTR negotiate them jointly and the agreement cannot take effect until 90 days after its legal text is sent to the relevant congressional committees. The U.S. has signed two: with the European Union (2017) and with the United Kingdom (2018).
If the FIO Director determines that a state insurance measure treats a non-U.S. insurer from a covered-agreement jurisdiction less favorably than a U.S. insurer and is inconsistent with the agreement, the measure can be preempted, after notice and public comment. The statute carves out state laws on rates, premiums, underwriting, sales practices and coverage requirements, so this is not a path to federal rate regulation. FIO's annual preemption reports account for the determinations; in its 2023 report, for example, FIO said it took no preemption action in fiscal 2023 and found no state measure implementing the NAIC's 2019 credit-for-reinsurance amendments preempted. In practice the EU and UK agreements are about reinsurance collateral. They bar states from requiring local collateral from qualifying EU and UK reinsurers when the reinsurer meets conditions, which is why the NAIC revised its credit-for-reinsurance models in 2019 and states followed.
What FIO publishes
Treasury's Reports and Notices page lists, as of October 2026, a 2026 FIO Annual Report, a 2026 FIO Preemption Report and a 2026 Report on the Effectiveness of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program, along with the 2025 equivalents. It also lists a 2025 study of small-insurer competitiveness in the terrorism marketplace and, from November 2024, a report on the impact of the IAIS's International Insurance Capital Standard on U.S. consumers and markets (Treasury, FIO reports and notices). The annual reports have typically appeared in late September; see the page for the current text rather than relying on a summary.
Two FIO outputs are especially relevant for business buyers:
- Cyber. In June 2026 FIO reported U.S. cyber direct written premium of $9.1 billion for 2024 and cyber policy limits of $1.9 trillion, and Treasury held a May 2024 conference on a potential federal response to catastrophic cyber incidents (systemic cyber risk and cyber catastrophe bonds).
- Terrorism coverage. FIO collects data from insurers on TRIA take-up and pricing and reports to Congress on the program's effectiveness, as the program approaches its scheduled sunset of December 31, 2027 (Terrorism insurance and TRIA: how the federal backstop works).
Federal reach beyond FIO
The FIO is one of several federal touchpoints with insurance. The rest are statutes and agencies with their own scope.
| Federal law or agency | What it touches |
|---|---|
| Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act (15 U.S.C. 8201-8206, 8221-8222) | Home-state control of surplus lines; reinsurance credit by the ceding insurer's home state (surplus lines taxes, stamping fees and diligent search) |
| Terrorism Risk Insurance Act | Federal backstop for certified terrorism losses |
| ERISA and the Department of Labor | Employee benefit plans, including preemption of state law for self-funded plans |
| Affordable Care Act | Health coverage standards |
| National Flood Insurance Program (FEMA) | Flood coverage on eligible property |
| Liability Risk Retention Act | Risk retention groups and purchasing groups (risk retention group) |
| FMCSA | Minimum financial responsibility for motor carriers (FMCSA insurance requirements and filings for motor carriers) |
| FSOC, the Federal Reserve | Systemic risk oversight; the Fed supervises insurers that own banks or are designated by FSOC |
Why it matters to a business buyer
FIO does not change what you pay or whether a claim is covered. It matters in three indirect ways.
- Reinsurance. The covered agreements affect how foreign reinsurers can support U.S. insurers, which in turn affects capacity (what is reinsurance, and why it affects your business premium).
- International capital standards. FIO is the federal voice at the IAIS, where the U.S. positioned its state-based group capital approach for comparability with the global standard (Solvency II, the ICS and global capital rules).
- Policy data and backstops. FIO's reports on terrorism, cyber and catastrophe shape the debate over federal backstops.
Businesses that want help with a coverage dispute or a rate complaint should go to the state department; see state insurance departments and what they can do for businesses.
Federal versus state: what changes the answer
Say a Texas manufacturer buys property insurance from a reinsured admitted carrier and terrorism cover under TRIA. The rate and form for the property policy are subject to Texas law (Texas); the terrorism offer follows federal TRIA rules; and the carrier's reinsurance from a London syndicate is shaped by the U.S.-UK covered agreement. A complaint about claim handling would go to the Texas Department of Insurance, not Treasury.
Key takeaways
- The FIO is a Treasury office that monitors, reports, represents the U.S. abroad and supports TRIP; it is not a regulator of individual insurers.
- Covered agreements with the EU (2017) and UK (2018) can preempt inconsistent state measures on reinsurance but not state rate, premium, underwriting or coverage rules.
- Treasury's site lists 2026 FIO annual, preemption and TRIA effectiveness reports; read the originals.
- Federal law reaches into insurance mainly through the NRRA, TRIA, ERISA, the ACA and flood insurance.
- State departments remain the place for complaints, filings and licensing.