Luxembourg Stakes Brexit Claims as Grand Duchy Attracts Insurers

(Bloomberg) -- Luxembourg is seeking to persuade at least two additional global insurers to make their post-Brexit home there after attracting American International Group Inc. and Sompo International Holdings Ltd., the head of its financial lobbying group said.

“Contingency planning has started, but in September-October it will be crunch time,” Nicolas Mackel, the head of Luxembourg for Finance, said in an interview in Paris, without giving names of companies it’s in talks with. Staff flows from London in favor of Luxembourg are accelerating in areas such as money-management, he said, pointing to Citigroup Inc.’s plans to make it a hub for its private banking business.

Luxembourg City, a venue for European funds, insurance companies and private banks, should win about 3,000 jobs by the end of 2018, Mackel said. That’s approximately on par with estimates for Paris. Following the 2016 Brexit vote, ten global insurers have already picked Luxembourg as their new EU hub.

“Paris’s advantage is to be home of large players,” he said. Until now, “trading is rather going toward Frankfurt and wealth management toward Luxembourg.” While fund managers are generally building on their existing presence in the Grand Duchy or Dublin, he said. Luxembourg can increase its financial workforce by 7 percent from Brexit-related moves, Mackel said.

--With assistance from Stephanie Bodoni

To contact the reporter on this story: Fabio Benedetti-Valentini in Paris at fabiobv@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Dale Crofts at dcrofts@bloomberg.net, Ross Larsen

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