AIG restructures European operations ahead of Brexit

American International Group Inc. announced Thursday it has received regulatory authorization to form two European insurers, which will house its U.K. and EU businesses starting later this year.

AIG announced last year that it would form insurers in the United Kingdom and Luxembourg to underwrite European business following Britain’s decision to leave the European Union.

London-based AIG Europe Ltd. will be merged into American International Group UK Ltd. in London and AIG Europe S.A. in Luxembourg, which will have branches across the European Economic Area and Switzerland, an AIG statement said. The EEA is composed of the 28 countries in the EU, plus Iceland, Lichtenstein and Norway.

The new insurers will begin writing business from Dec. 1, 2018, the statement said. The existing AIG Europe business will be split about 50/50 between the two insurers, an AIG spokeswoman said. In 2016, the latest year for which figures are available, AIG Europe reported £3.66 billion ($5.21 billion) in net written premiums.

Numerous insurers either based in the U.K. or with European hubs in the U.K. have announced plans to establish units in various cities in the EU following the Brexit vote in 2016. While Britain is still negotiating the terms of its exit from the EU, insurers are establishing the subsidiaries in case British companies lose their so-called passporting rights, which allow insurers to write business throughout the political and trade bloc providing they are licensed in one EU country.

“The great advantage of the restructuring route we have chosen is that it will give clients certainty that whatever the other unknowns of Brexit for their businesses, their European insurance coverage has been Brexit-proofed,” AIG Europe CEO Anthony Baldwin said in the statement.