Lloyds to open Brussels office following hard-Brexit due to City's strong regulatory framework
London's 329-year-old insurance market Lloyds says it has chosen Brussels for the location of its new EU subsidiary, confirming plans to open a satellite office in the European capital by 1 January 2019.
Lloyds announced its plan in its 2016 annual results published on Thursday, saying it had chosen Brussels as the location due to its strong regulatory framework.
The firm was very vocal about financial services companies needing subsidiaries in the case of hard Brexit, and today's announcement suggests it isn't confident of Britain's ability to secure access to the single market.
The announcement overshadowed the corporation's FY results, that reported £2.1bn in pre-tax profit, flat year-on-year, return-on-capital falling 1% to 8.1%, but with gross premiums written increasing £3bn.
CEO Inga Beale said the figures showed the Corporation needs to focus on underwriting oversight and reducing its cost base.
"This has been a year of challenge for the insurance sector with premiums once more under continued downward pressure. It is vital that the Corporation does everything it can to support the market and make the platform attractive, whilst demonstrating value for money."
She added that the corporation's collective focus should be on providing customers with the products they want, embracing innovation and modernisation. Whilst Lloyd's Chairman, John Nelson, said the results confirmed that there must be an "unrelenting" focus on underwriting discipline through 2017.
