Tuesday, January 2, 2018

P&I Club preparing for Brexit

The North Protection & Indemnity Club is preparing for post-Brexit possible fallout by creating a European Union subsidiary in Dublin, according to their press release at the end of November. 

The North fear that Britain may lose access to the EU single market after Brexit. As a result, they and many other British-based insurers, are making contingency plans in case they lose "passporting rights" that allow U.K. financial service firms to trade in Europe without the need for locally-regulated entities.

The North is one of the first to announce the location for an EU subsidiary and it is expected to start implementing its contingency plans in the first quarter of 2018, according to their release.

The firm said that due to "regulatory uncertainty and a realistic prospect," passporting rights could be lost as early as March 2019 upon the current two-year Article 50 expiration. Therefore, its board agreed that a subsidiary insurance company should be established in Ireland.

“The decision to locate the subsidiary in Ireland follows an extensive horizon-scanning exercise during which a number of possible locations were considered,” said The North. They cited the regulatory, legal and taxation framework, a mature regulatory system, a strong talent pool, easy travel connections and lack of language barriers as the motivation for their choice of Dublin.