Anthony Vidovich (pictured above), executive vice president and general counsel at Everest Group Ltd., has told US lawmakers that private reinsurance is doing more of the heavy lifting behind federal risk programs run by agencies including the FHFA, and has pressed Washington to extend similar treatment to US bank capital rules - a shift the industry says could unlock hundreds of billions in risk transfer.
Appearing before the US House Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance on behalf of the Reinsurance Association of America (RAA), Vidovich said transferring risk to private markets helps federal agencies manage exposure, price risk more accurately and limit situations in which taxpayers absorb large-scale losses.
He cited three examples: the FHFA's Credit Risk Transfer Program covering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), and the Export-Import Bank of the US (EXIM) pilot reinsurance program.
The programs carry material scale. Marsh & McLennan, in a filing with the FDIC, has reported that single-family and multi-family mortgage credit risk transfer over the past decade moved $63.7 billion of risk to insurers and reinsurers across Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, tied to $3.5 trillion of unpaid principal balances.
FEMA renewed its traditional NFIP reinsurance tower at the start of 2025 at $757.8 million across 27 reinsurers, taking total risk-transfer protection, including catastrophe bonds, to roughly $2.058 billion for the year, the agency has disclosed.
Vidovich's firm has direct ties to one of the three. EXIM announced in 2018 that Everest Re was a lead reinsurer on its $1 billion risk-sharing pilot, the first such arrangement of its kind for the agency.
The testimony on FEMA's flood program lands against continued reauthorization uncertainty. The NFIP was extended only until January 2026 through a continuing appropriations bill signed on Nov. 12, 2025, after a 40-day lapse that coincided with a 43-day federal government shutdown and expired on Oct. 1.
Industry officials said the extension should help clear backlogs of delayed home closings and new flood insurance purchases.
Vidovich also urged banking regulators to revise US bank capital rules so that reinsurance becomes available to domestic banks with associated capital relief. Such a change, he argued, would strengthen risk management and credit access while preserving supervisory oversight.
The commercial stakes are significant. Industry group BAFT, drawing on research from the IACPM and ITFA, has estimated that aligning US rules with frameworks already in place in the EU and UK could support up to $250 billion in risk transfer from banks to insurers and reinsurers.
RAA president and chief executive Tracey Laws said the association welcomed the chance to brief the panel.
"The positive impact reinsurance has had on FHFA's credit risk transfer program, FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program and the EXIM Bank demonstrates how reinsurance can play a critical role in supporting the private and public sectors and saving taxpayers money," Laws said.
She added that the RAA continues to press banking agencies to update the rules.
