Lloyds Chooses Brussels For EU Insurance Base

(RTTNews) - Insurance giant Lloyds Banking Group has selected Brussels as the site for its subsidiary in mainland Europe that will help it maintain access to the European Union even after Brexit.

The decision was announced a day after British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty, the start of a two-year countdown to Brexit.

The decision to start a subsidiary stems from the European Union's ongoing process to tighten rules for subsidiaries of non-EU banks. Subsidiaries typically cost more to run compared to branches as they are fully capitalized separately from the parent bank.

Lloyd's plans to start work at the Brussels office from January 1, 2019.

"Lloyd's, the specialist insurance and reinsurance market, has announced it will be setting up a new European insurance company to be located in Brussels," the company said in a statement.