Lloyd’s of London have reiterated concerns over Brexit, referring to it as a “major issue” despite promising profit figures.
Pre-tax profits were recorded at £1.46 billion in the first months of 2016, which is up 22pc from the previous year. Despite posting record profits today, the London-based insurance market has issued stark warnings over Brexit and concerns over the future of passport rights. Lloyd’s’ strong performance has been attributed to the strong Dollar in the wake of Brexit and similarly, a slight increase in investment returns.
However, in a joint statement, Lloyd’s chief executive and John Nelson the market’s chairman, remained tentative. In their statement, these factors were dismissed, stressing that they did not “represent sustainable profitability”
Ms Beale stated that, “The UK’s referendum on its EU membership is a major issue for us to deal with”.
“We are now focusing our attention on having in place the plans that will ensure Lloyd’s continues trading across Europe”, she continued.
Earlier this week, Bundesbank President, Jens Wiedmann warned of the serious consequences that revoking said EU passporting rights would have upon the financial industry and the city.
It has been suggested that up to 5,000 UK financial institutions will be affected by these developments. Of these, more than 2,700 are insurance brokers, and 200 are insurers. The insurance mediation directive is one the more popular type of passports that regulates brokers and is potentially jeopardized by Brexit.
Nonetheless, Lloyd’s emphasised that, “It is important to be clear that the referendum result has no immediate impact on the UK’s ability to keep trading with the EU,” Moreover, Ms Beale and Mr Nelson maintained that, “We continue to trade under the current passporting regime.”
