There is little doubt over insurance brokers’ preferred location for an EU entity ahead of Brexit.
That location is Belgium, with a survey undertaken by the London and International Insurance Brokers’ Association (LIIBA) outlining that it was the preferred choice of nearly a quarter of broking houses. Ireland and France followed as the next most popular locations at 16% each.
“Brokers have worked hard to ensure that they are prepared for Brexit. Our members have taken prudent and positive steps to ensure that they have ‘reverse branches’ in place to be in a position to continue to support their clients in the EU,” said LIIBA CEO Christopher Croft. “We are confident that whatever the outcome of the negotiations, London will still be able to play a key role in helping European businesses to manage their risks
“We are not surprised that so many of our members have chosen Belgium as the location for their EU entity. The Ministry of Finance took a proactive and pragmatic approach to creating a regulatory, tax and employment framework that provided a first-class solution for brokers. We are grateful to them for the support they have shown.
“Deal or no deal is unlikely to make any difference for brokers because there is no equivalence framework for insurance distribution. The almost complete focus on the concept of equivalence by both our government and EU has meant we have always known we would need to make our own arrangements to carry on acting in the best interests of our clients. It is good to see that our members have done that challenging and expensive work and that their clients can look beyond the end of the year with confidence.”
