One of Britain’s biggest life insurance and pensions company, Aviva have been given the green light to shift £8.8bn of assets to Dublin, as the firm ramps up their Brexit contingency planning.
Aviva received approval from the high court on Tuesday to transfer £7.8bn of assets, the life insurance company transferred £1bn to Dublin earlier this month.
Aviva have followed in the footsteps of many other major brands to relocate amid fears of a no-deal Brexit is looming. Should the UK move into a no-deal hard Brexit, UK financial frims will lose passporting rights which allows such firms to function in the EU single market.
Justice Snowden said in his judgement at the High Court, “The evidence is that the uncertainty over the Brexit negotiations means that if it delayed further and did nothing, there is a real risk that substantial numbers of policyholders would be materially prejudiced in event of a “hard” [“no-deal”] Brexit by the loss of EU passporting rights.”
Hundreds of billions in assets have been moved from London to Dublin over recent months, this is hitting the Treasury’s tax and revenue hard.
Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays are among a few major companies that have moved assets from London to Dublin or the EU.
The capitals reputation for being a financial centre, continues to be severely dented over Theresa May’s Brexit negotiations, as the UK is fast moving into a no-deal hard Brexit.