Insurer Britannia P&I has won approval to underwrite business from its Hong Kong office.
The protection and indemnity club said the territory's insurance regulator, the Insurance Authority (IA), has granted a licence in a move in line with the club's strategy of ‘think global, act local’.
This has seen new exclusive correspondents opening in Taiwan and Denmark, as well as the recent purchase by Britannia's manager Tindall Riley of Britannia's exclusive correspondents in Japan and Singapore. Tindall Riley also opened an office in Greece.
The news of the approval follows North P&I's approval to trade in Dublin last week, ahead of the UK's exit from the European Union.
But there was no mention of Brexit by the Britannia, which is also working towards activating a Singapore licence granted in principle last year.
The Hong Kong branch office will continue to be managed by the very experienced existing team led by Tim Fuller as chief executive, Richard Inman as head of underwriting, Gordon McGilvray as head of claims and Monica Kwok as head of finance.
“The granting of the Hong Kong branch’s licence in a short space of time is testament to the hard work of all involved in Hong Kong and London, along with the determination of the Hong Kong IA to support the local marine insurance sector,” said Britannia chief executive Andrew Cutler.
“Half of our membership is based in Asia and the vast majority trade within the region. Establishing regional hubs in Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore is key to our strategy of providing our members with a local service that is personalised and backed by a global presence in the market.”
Britannia has declared no general increase to advance calls for the 2019/2020 policy year.
