AIG, Lloyd’s of London, Allianz and other insurers are ignoring assurances and establishing new hubs in Britain and the European Union before Brexit in March 2019 to ensure access to customers. The moves come despite a “standstill” transition agreement struck between Britain and the European Union in March of this year which is meant to avoid any such hasty relocations. “We have urged firms not to wait for and rely on a political process to deliver the answers. This is particularly true of relocation plans, which take two years or more to complete,” said Hugh Savill of the Association of British Insurers. Insurers are being driven by the fact that after Brexit, European firms selling policies in Britain, as well as British and other non-European Union insurers with U.K. bases selling into Europe, will need to have local regulated entities. Many have said they are starting to implement the second phase of their Brexit plans -- submitting license applications, hiring staff and shifting policies. “We are prepared for a hard Brexit,” said Joachim Wenning, chief executive of Germany’s Munich Re, the world’s biggest reinsurer, which has applied for U.K. licences. Such planning has been encouraged by EU regulators who say transition will not be ratified until October and could be derailed without agreement on other parts of Britain’s divorce. “I don’t think there is any going back,” said Paul Merrey, a partner specializing in insurance at consultants KPMG. American insurer AIG said it will open new subsidiaries in Britain and Luxembourg by December, and has begun moving policies from one jurisdiction to another. Meanwhile, Japanese insurer Sompo’s international unit last week received approval for its Luxembourg subsidiary, which it said would start operating before the end of the year. Even Lloyd’s of London, the world’s largest commercial insurance market which is synonymous with the capital’s financial center, will have its new Brussels subsidiary ready by January for the policy renewal season kickoff.(SD-Agencies) | 