Brexit would hurt business: Lloyd’s

Lloyd’s of London, would be less appealing to investors outside Britain if the country voted to leave the European Union, its chairman John Nelson said, as the group reported a drop in profit last year.

Lloyd’s, which groups more than 80 insurance syndicates, is making contingency plans for setting up offices elsewhere in the European Union in case of Brexit, Nelson added.

Lloyd’s has seen investment into the syndicates from the United States and Asia in recent years.

“About 90 percent of our capital and business comes from outside the UK,” Nelson told Reuters.

Britons vote in a referendum on EU membership on June 23. A decision to leave would make it harder to sell insurance into the bloc without a local presence, Nelson said.