Hiscox considers setting up new EU arm to weather Brexit

Lloyd's of London underwriter Hiscox said it would set up a new EU-based insurance company if needed to weather the possible impact of Britain's decision to leave the European Union.

Britain voted to leave the European Union on June 23rd, a shocking move that sent global financial markets plunging and spelling uncertainty for the world’s fifth-largest economy.

Insurers are ahead of banks when it comes to making public their Brexit contingency plans, with many keen to reassure clients they have plans in place should they lose their access to the EU.

Lloyd’s of London’s Beazley said on Friday that it was working to get European insurance licences for its Irish reinsurance business to allow it to operate throughout the EU, even if Lloyd’s loses access to the region.

Specialist insurance market Lloyd's of London would be less appealing to investors outside Britain if the country voted to leave the European Union, its chairman John Nelson had said in March.

Following the Brexit vote, Hiscox chief executive Bronislaw Edmund Masojada had told Reuters that it was "business as usual" for insurers and that the company did not have to take any decisions until 2018.

The company, which reported a 52 per cent jump in pretax profit for the first half of the year on Monday, said it was preparing for a range of outcomes, depending on whether the company continued to operate in the single market.

Hiscox, which underwrites a range of risks from oil refineries to kidnappings, said it generates about 20 per cent of its total gross written premiums from the European Union.

Reuters