LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s insurance market must have the same access to the European Union as Bermuda and Switzerland to stay competitive, Lloyd’s of London chairman Bruce Carnegie-Brown said on Wednesday.
Lloyd’s of London has transferred 50 jobs and 300 million pounds in capital to a new subsidiary in Brussels to avoid disruption to customers in the bloc, Carnegie-Brown told a House of Lords committee.
Direct access to the EU from London, known as equivalence, would avoid additional costs, he said.
“If you want a global insurance policy that covers EU and non-EU risks, you have to have two insurance policies. That is unhelpful in terms of our competitive position,” Carnegie-Brown told the EU sub-committee on financial affairs.
It would be surprising if Bermuda and Switzerland continued to have access to the EU market and Britain did not, he said.
“That might pose medium-term disadvantages to us if we don’t enjoy the benefits around equivalence in reinsurance,” he added.
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