Newcastle based maritime insurance company, North P&I Club, today confirmed that its subsidiary in Ireland, North of England P&I Designated Activity Compay, has received authorisation as a non-life insurance business from the Central Bank of Ireland (CBI).
Following successful delivery of this key milestone in North’s Brexit Contingency Plan, formal authorisation from the CBI (effective from 31 December 2018) allows North to continue its European operations after the expected loss of existing EU financial services ‘passporting’ rights when the United Kingdom leaves the EU on 29 March 2019.
From 20 February 2019, shipowner members and policyholders with an EEA (European Economic Area) place of management will be insured by North of England P&I DAC. This will apply to all classes of business previously underwritten by North and its subsidiary Sunderland Marine. Shipowners and policyholders with a non-EEA place of management will continue to be insured by North P&I Club and Sunderland Marine.
The decision to locate the subsidiary in Ireland followed an extensive horizon scanning exercise during which a number of possible locations were considered. Key reasons for choosing Dublin include:
- The regulatory, legal and taxation framework in Ireland is similar to the UK, where North is an experienced operator;
- A mature regulatory system with substantial experience in the supervision of Solvency II insurance companies;
- A strong talent pool within the financial services sector;
- Easy travel connections from Newcastle;
- The ability to conduct business in English.
North of England P&I DAC will be managed by a team of senior executives who have already transferred from North’s UK headquarters in Newcastle. The senior team based in Dublin now includes:
- David Bruce as Chief Executive Officer. David was formerly North’s Group Financial Controller.
- Richard Bracken as Head of Underwriting. Richard has previously acted as the Group Director (Underwriting) responsible for the European Area.
- Geoff Potter as Risk & Compliance Officer. Previously Geoff was North’s Head of Group Compliance.
Recruitment for support roles within the office is underway and a total of eight people will be based in Dublin when the office reaches its full staff complement sometime in mid-2019.
Paul Jennings, North’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the International Group of P&I Clubs, commented “North has opened and staffed this new office in Dublin to ensure that North’s shipowner members, particularly those whose ships have their place of management within the EEA, can continue to trade with confidence after Brexit on 29 March with no change to the excellent service levels currently delivered by our teams across the Club. As the first UK based P&I Club to confirm its post-Brexit trading arrangements, I am confident that this new subsidiary will continue to build upon our long tradition of delivering excellent service to our members around the world. The establishment of our subsidiary in Ireland is a significant development in the life of the Club and I’d like to acknowledge the contributions of Chris Owen (Group General Counsel), Michael Easom (Project Manager) and the rest of our team in delivering a successful outcome.”
