UK braces for tax exits

After campaigning for concessions to the UK’s tax regime for several years, Brit Insurance has confirmed that redomiciling outside the UK is a very real option. IR&A looks at how insurers are running out of patience with the promise of tax reform.

There was a time, not so long ago, when the government looked to be heading in a more business-friendly direction. Back then, Gordon Brown was Chancellor of the Exchequer and the competitiveness of London’s financial services market, and in particular insurance, was under threat. Bermuda was growing as a global insurance/reinsurance centre after much of the new capital that found its way to the insurance markets in the wake of the 2005 hurricanes chose Bermuda as its home, and more tellingly none of it came to London. Moreover, several high profile insurance and reinsurance businesses had decided to leave Britain’s shores to compete with this influx of new capital.