Lloyd's of London names Carnegie-Brown chairman

(Reuters) — Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest specialty insurance market, appointed Bruce Carnegie-Brown as chairman, it said on Monday, after his nomination was unanimously supported by its council.

Mr. Carnegie-Brown, currently chairman of Moneysupermarket.com and vice chairman of Banco Santander, will take up the Lloyd's role in June. He will step down from his role as a nonexecutive director of insurance and reinsurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group P.L.C., Lloyd's said in a statement.

Mr. Carnegie-Brown is former chief executive of insurance broker Marsh Europe, a subsidiary of Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., a global professional services firm.

He replaces former banker John Nelson, who has been chairman of Lloyd's since 2011 and a vocal supporter of Britain remaining in the European single market.

Lloyd's of London, which gets around 11% of its business from Europe, is expected soon to announce plans for a European Union subsidiary following Britain's vote to leave the EU. Dublin and Luxembourg are seen as the most likely contenders for the subsidiary, industry sources say.

The market, which started life in Edward Lloyd's coffee house in 1688, still operates on a face-to-face basis in its City of London building and is seen needing to modernize and upgrade its technology.

Lloyd's is also facing increasing competition from emerging markets such as Singapore, with a 2014 report showing the London insurance market losing market share.