Lloyd’s of London set to shun Dublin in post-Brexit plans

Dearbhail McDonald DUBLIN is set to lose out to Luxembourg or Berlin in its bid to secure the new European HQ of insurer Lloyd’s of London, according to sources close to the matter.

However, the loss could be offset if Bank of China decides to relocate parts of its London operations to Dublin, an announcement that is due within weeks.

The Government has fought an intense battle to tempt Lloyd’s to grow its operations in Ireland, having last week lost out on its bid to convince global insurance giant AIG to relocate its European regional headquarters to Dublin.

AIG has instead selected Luxembourg. The company said it chose Luxembourg to ensure the “continued smooth operation of its business across the European Economic Area [EEA] and Switzerland” once the UK leaves the EU.

Lloyd’s, Bank of America and Morgan Stanley are all due to make imminent announcements on their relocation plans in the wake of Brexit.

Inga Beale, chief executive of Lloyd’s UK, has said the company will finalise its decision by the end of March

Taoiseach Enda Kenny met Beale at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland in January. Lloyd’s UK then sent a delegation to Dublin. The Lloyd’s delegation met IDA chief executive Martin Shanahan and separately met the Taoiseach at Government buildings on January 26. Lloyd’s also met with officials from the Central Bank, including Sylvia Cronin, director of insurance, on the same day.

It is understood that among the matters discussed was the scale of the operations in Dublin.