Staff ReporterLloyd’s of London has confirmed that it will be setting up a new insurance company in Brussels, to secure European business after the UK leaves the EU. Chief executive Inga Beale said that the intention is for the company to be ready to operate on 1 January 2019.
As the United Kingdom waits for the British Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger Article 50 and kick off the Brexit process, Lloyd’s of London has reportedly come to a decision on where to move its EU business.
Update: Lloyd’s has now confirmed the news
The insurance giant will locate its new European Union subsidiary in Brussels, according to a report by The Insurance Insider, which revealed the Lloyd’s Franchise Board has decided to recommend that its council ratify a decision to launch a capitalised subsidiary in the Belgian capital.
Lloyd’s revealed that a meeting will take place today, with a view to making an announcement tomorrow but declined to comment further on this revelation.
It emerged last week that Lloyd’s would confirm its new EU base after the Prime Minister triggers Article 50 today.
Lloyd’s said last year that it would lay out its post-EU referendum plans in early 2017 and subsequently promised to make an announcement before the end of March.
The insurance market was said to be looking at a shortlist of five new locations, including Frankfurt, Paris and Dublin, which was eventually whittled down to two: Luxembourg and Brussels.
Lloyd’s chairman John Nelson, an ardent Remain supporter, has warned in the past that the Brexit vote put London’s status as an insurance leader at risk. He has also cautioned that, while his organisation might need to shift some of its business away from the UK, “it won’t be Lloyd’s losing out, it will be the UK”.
And Lloyd’s chief risk officer Sean McGovern said ahead of last June’s referendum that exiting the EU would “create a level of uncertainty, for Lloyd’s, for the London market, as well as the UK and European economies, we have rarely experienced”.
Lloyd’s recently hit headlines when it banned staff from daytime drinking because alcohol has been leading to so may disciplinary cases.
