Lloyd’s of London wants to be at the “heart of Europe” with its new EU base
Lloyd’s of London is planning to attract new EU customers by placing itself at the “heart of Europe”, the corporation’s chairman said this morning.
In the wake of the UK triggering Article 50 yesterday, the iconic insurance market this morning revealed it will set up an EU base in Brussels, with new business set to be written from 1 January 2019.
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Lloyd’s signposted a decision to set up an onshore EU base soon after the Brexit vote, building on contingency plans made prior to the 23 June. It whittled down a long list of countries down to Luxembourg and Belgium, with the likes of Ireland and Germany falling by the wayside.
Chairman John Nelson said Lloyd’s measured potential jurisdictions using 30 criteria, of which “five or six” were particularly key.
And it was Belgium’s regulators that particular impressed the 329-year-old organisation.
“Lloyd’s is a unique organisation. We are a corporation not a company. So any regulator has got to get its head round that,” Nelson told City A.M..
“That was a key component. And also did they have the resource. And there Belgium also scored very highly.”
An availability of experienced people and personnel was also key, alongside the country’s associated with the EU. He said:
If someone like Lloyd’s going to go onshore EU, then it is very important that we are right at the heart of Europe.
If there is a place that is at the heart of Europe, it is Brussels.
Despite the attention Lloyd’s move has attracted, the corporation’s chief executive Inge Beale told the BBC this morning it expects the staff footprint in the Belgium capital to only be “in the 10s”.
Euro-growth
Around 11 per cent of Lloyd’s customer base is from the EU, but half of this will continue to be written from London, Beale said.
Read more: Lloyd’s of London moving EU business to Brussels
Nelson added: “I don’t think that setting an EU business for Lloyd’s will have a very significant impact on the Lloyd’s market overall. If you look at it, it’s a relatively small part of our business.”
He caveated the significance with “at least initially” and continued by saying the Brussels move could be a springboard for growing operations on the continent.
What we do hope is that by going onshore, it brings us closer to the EU customer base. It may help our business in Europe.
“We’ve come up with a structure, with the help of the Belgium regulators – who’ve displayed great imagination, flexibility and professionalism – where we may be able to attract more business that we don’t have today from third party carriers onto the Lloyd’s platform.”