Equitable Life could be the next insurer to announce a move to Ireland, after chief executive Chris Wiscarson said UK’s oldest mutual life assurance company is "probably" setting up a regulated subsidiary in Dublin.
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Reuters report said a decision has yet to be reached, with Equitable Life also looking at using passporting rights to continue serving customers in Germany. The insurer reportedly has a few thousand policyholders each in Ireland and Germany, out of the total of 400,000 who are mostly in Britain.
“We are having to make sure we have plans in place to deal with whatever comes out of the next couple of years,” said Wiscarson, as quoted in the report. It added that only a small number of staff would be employed by Equitable Life in Dublin.
Among those recently picking Ireland was US-based The Hanover Insurance Group which is setting up a new specialty business in Dublin through its international member subsidiary, Chaucer. The insurer cited the strength of Ireland’s financial services capabilities, international outlook, regulatory capabilities, and proximity to London.
Standard Life has also chosen Dublin, while
Aviva is reinstating its Irish operation as a subsidiary.
Admiral is reportedly considering the same location for its post-Brexit hub, with CFO Geraint Jones previously saying Dublin would be one of the places within Europe where the company might look to base its European underwriting from.
Meanwhile, industry trade body Insurance Ireland has called for regulatory “grandfathering” of UK-regulated insurers looking to locate in Ireland. “This would give an insurer regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority, with a good record, a credit in the approval process which would enable them to trade in Ireland on a similar basis as their current circumstances in the UK,” it said on its website last May.
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