Zurich Insurance to move holding company from Ireland due to Brexit

LONDON (Reuters) – Zurich Insurance plans to shift its European Economic Area holding company to Germany from Ireland following Britain’s departure from the European Union, the boss of the insurer’s European division said.

The decision to transfer the company, Zurich Insurance Plc, will affect 110 jobs, Zurich EMEA CEO Alison Martin told Reuters by phone.

Zurich Insurance Plc also covered British operations but that will change at the end of this year as temporary permissions regimes end, Martin said.

“As a group, we are always looking for opportunities to simplify,” she said.

“With Brexit happening, and with the UK leaving this structure,…Germany will then become by far the largest business that we have within Zurich Insurance Plc.”

Zurich has not decided whether Zurich Insurance Plc will transfer to the insurer’s Frankfurt or Cologne office, Martin said, adding the move would not happen before 2024.

Zurich’s domestic Irish insurance business, which employs 1,100 people, will not be affected, she added.

Staff working in Dublin for Zurich Insurance Plc will be consulted about moving with the holding company, within the wider firm or about redundancy, Martin said.

The holding operation for the British business will become a branch of Zurich’s Swiss operations, following a bilateral treaty between Britain and Switzerland, she said.

(Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; editing by Barbara Lewis)