Insurer QBE is to set up an EU base in Brussels, dealing a blow to Dublin’s hopes of becoming a new centre for the industry.
Faced with a loss of passporting rights from London because of Brexit, many UK-based insurers have been looking for a new EU home.
QBE is the second major insurer to select the Belgian capital after Lloyd’s, the insurance market, announced in March that it would set up a base there.
The news comes just a day after UK-based RSA said it would set up a subsidiary in Luxembourg from which it will run its businesses in Spain, Germany, France and the Netherlands.
Dublin had initially been seen as the natural choice for the industry because of its language and legal system, as well as its proximity to London.
But in recent months, locations in continental Europe such as Luxembourg and Brussels have been more popular.
“Brussels is pretty compelling for us as our biggest existing European business is in Belgium,” said Richard Pryce, chief executive of QBE’s European operation. He said that the National Bank of Belgium, the regulator, had been “very pragmatic”.
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