There have been plenty of insurance companies announcing plans to set up European subsidiaries since the referendum vote which will see the UK leave the European Union – and now a top marine insurer has declared its intentions.

In a release announcing its plans today, North and Sunderland Marine outlined how it relies on EU passporting rights to insure risks throughout the European Economic Area and with the details of the UK and EU’s trading relationship still to be determined it stated that its expectations are that “existing passporting rights will ultimately be lost either immediately upon termination of the UK’s EU membership or at the end of the agreed transition period.”

As such, it has chosen to act quickly – and its board has agreed that a subsidiary insurance company will be established in Ireland to underwrite future EEA business effective February 20, 2019.

Ireland has been chosen, it said, for a host of reasons including its regulatory and taxation framework being similar to that in the UK, and its access to a strong talent pool.

According to the firm, the location and structure of the operations are “subject to an on-going investigation” with a future announcement likely to be made during the first quarter of 2018.


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