AIG receives UK approval for Brexit restructure plans

American International Group (AIG) has received the final approval from the High Court of England & Wales to split its European business among two new entities ahead of the UK’s exit from the European Union.

Earlier in April, the company announced its plan to create two new insurance companies in preparation for Brexit. The restructuring involves the transfer of AIG Europe’s (AEL) existing insurance business to American International Group UK (AIG UK) and AIG Europe (AESA), and the merger of its existing carrier AIG Europe into the new European company.

AIG UK will be based in London, and will continue the business of AEL’s existing UK operations. The UK is AIG’s largest single operation in Europe. AESA will be headquartered in Luxembourg, with 21 branches across the EEA and Switzerland.

AIG currently writes business in Europe from AEL, a single insurance company, based in the UK with branches across Europe. As part of the restructure, AIG will merge AEL into AESA.

AIG said the two-entity structure will enable it to continue to service all of its policyholders and business partners across the UK and Europe, and to guarantee contract certainty to all AEL policyholders, regardless of the future relationship between the UK and the EU.

Both companies will start writing business and policyholders will transfer from AEL to the relevant new entity on 1 December 2018.

Anthony Baldwin, CEO of AEL and AIG UK, said: “Today is an important day most of all for our clients, as we can now guarantee them access to the full range of our capabilities after Brexit. We have cleared the final major legal hurdle in our Brexit plans which will enable us to offer our clients, partners and colleagues certainty that AIG is ready to overcome the challenges posed to the insurance industry by Brexit, regardless of the UK’s future relationship with the European Union. All our clients can be assured of past, present and future contract certainty under the new structure. As we launch our two new legal entities to ensure the smooth operation of our business across Europe after Brexit, it’s an exciting time for AIG.”

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