The uncertainties around the UK's position in a Brexit deal have encouraged the Asian insurer to create a European subsidiary in Luxembourg.

Japanese insurer Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance has set up its European subsidiary in Luxembourg, opting for the EU member state instead of the UK as the latter pushes ahead with Brexit, according to the agency promoting Luxembourg.

Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance is part of MS & AD, a top-rank insurers in Asia, and it joins AIG, FM Global, CNA Hardy, Hiscox, RSA, Liberty Mutual as well as Japan's Tokio Marine in choosing Luxembourg as a new base, according to LuxembourgforFinance.

MS & AD yesterday said it will restructure its European business and move Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance Company of Europe to Luxembourg as an insurance company in continental Europe.

Recently, Luxembourg's Minister for Finance, Pierre Gramegna, voiced his concern that if the UK were to leave the EU with no negotiated trade deal with Brussels, Luxembourg would lose out, because of how the latter jurisdiction derives considerable business from the UK capital. 

“We must not punish the UK and must respect the decision taken by the British people,” the minister said in an address at the London School of Economics. Companies don’t like uncertainty around Brexit, he said. “The pressure on companies is probably higher than what governments anticipate,” he said.