Insurance companies that are looking to move operations from the UK due to Brexit are reportedly in talks with the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI) for possible relocation.
The CBI, which regulates Ireland’s insurance industry, is already dealing with enquiries from UK insurers, according to Sylvia Cronin, the bank’s director of insurance supervision.
Cronin told the
Financial Times that she has increased her staff numbers to deal with Brexit and the new Solvency II capital rules of the European Union.
“I’m staffing up for the first half of 2017 because of the increased number of enquiries in Q3,” the
Financial Times quoted Cronin as saying.
“My sense was that companies wouldn’t come and talk to regulators until there was some more substance [over Brexit], but the opposite seems to be occurring,” she added. “Due to the uncertainty, companies are proactively approaching us.”
Cronin said her team has increased by over 25% since the beginning of 2016 and is expected to grow further.
“It’s being able to respond to the demand and being sure that we deliver on our service standards,” she said.
Following the UK’s vote to leave the European Union in June, reports have been abound that insurers and financial companies in Britain are considering relocating elsewhere in Europe if they can’t keep their passporting rights or access to the single market.
Just last week, AIG said it may move its European headquarters out of London and set up a new head office on the continent, with Dublin one of six possible destinations.
Earlier this month,
Beazley filed an application with CBI to obtain approval for its Irish reinsurance arm,
Beazley Re, to become a European insurance company.
If Cronin approves Beazley’s application, the specialist insurer will be able to operate throughout the European Union even if Lloyd’s loses single market access post-Brexit.
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Lloyd’s may move operations to Ireland – report
Ireland’s potential post-Brexit
