Commercial Risk Europe: Lloyd's sees Brexit as opportunity in France

02 February 2017

Lloyd’s believes that Brexit will create opportunities to expand its business in France, according to Guy-Antoine de la Rochefoucauld, the market's representative in the country.

Lloyd’s underwrote more than €550m of gross premium in France during 2016, which included a 10% increase in direct insurance. Growth has been particularly good in specialty lines like cyber, political risk and event cancelation, according to Mr Rochefoucauld.

“Let’s be absolutely clear: Lloyd’s is committed to bringing more capacity and service to the French market,” Mr Rochefoucauld told CRE at the AMRAE conference in Deauville this week.

The Lloyd’s representative is confident that Brexit will not affect the London-based insurance market’s ability to provide cover for French companies. [...]

A decision on the location of the new platform is expected in March, while Lloyd’s will begin working with regulators from April.

“It's a tight schedule, but we will do it. Clients will expect us to continue services. We remain committed to the market and therefore a solution will be in place to provide continuity of business,” he said.

Rather than viewing Brexit as a problem for the market, Lloyd’s believes it as an opportunity to revisit its approach to Europe.

“We see Brexit as an opportunity. It could be a real opportunity for Lloyd’s to improve its footprint in Europe and to be better recognised as a partner in Europe,” said Mr Rochefoucauld.

“By creating a European entity, Lloyd’s will reinforce the attention of Lloyd’s managing agents on the continent and [the] French market, and [will] be more visible to brokers and insurers,” he said.

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