Lloyd's of London has received the go-ahead to open a subsidiary in Brussels, marking another step in allowing its syndicates to continue doing EU business post-Brexit.
The National Bank of Belgium officially granted licence approval to allow Lloyd's Insurance Company S.A (Lloyd's Brussels) to continue writing non-life risks in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Lloyd's will be able to write risks for all 27 EU and three EEA states. It expects to commence writing business from Brussels in January 2019.
"This will deliver certainty for all our customers, reassuring them they can continue benefitting from Lloyd's specialist expertise, innovative policies and financial security post-Brexit," said Lloyd's CEO Inga Beale.
Vincent Vandendael will take up the position of chief executive officer of Lloyd's Brussels in addition to his current role as Lloyd's chief commercial officer.
"The new subsidiary will mean that our customers within the EEA continue to have access to Lloyd's specialist policies, and it will also provide us with opportunities to continue to grow our business on the continent," said Vandendael
"Lloyd's Brussels will be at the forefront of our modernisation drive, with a platform in one of our most important markets that harnesses all the benefits of Lloyd's whilst utilising the latest technology, expertise and talent available."
Lloyd's syndicates wrote $22.7bn of new business last year, of which around $4bn or 18% was directly for EU/EEA countries. The remainder was split between the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Bermuda and Japan, according to year-end 2017 information gathered by Insurance Risk Data.
Lloyd's revealed its intention to set up a Brussels office in March 2017, the day after Prime Minister Theresa May triggered article 50.
It was also considering other locations, in order to maintain passporting rights within the bloc, understood to be Dublin, Luxembourg, Frankfurt and Malta.
Companies:Lloyd's of London
