Citing a source within the banking and insurance group, the report said the office would serve longstanding EU-based Scottish Widows life insurance customers after Britain leaves the EU on 29 March, 2019. The banking group is thought to have launched proceedings to obtain a licence to operate in Luxembourg.

Delano contacted Lloyds for confirmation, but a spokesperson said on 21 September they were not making any comments for the time being.

Unlike some banks creating Luxembourg subsidiaries and encouraging staff to move to Luxembourg, such as JP Morgan, Reuters reported that Lloyds would not relocate UK-based staff but would hire around “a dozen people to provide the necessary services”.

Lloyds Banking Group already has two EU hubs, in Berlin and Frankfurt. Announcing its half yearly results on 1 August  the group considered Brexit’s impact as among the main risks it faces and said it was considering and assessing the “potential implications of the UK leaving the European Union” and it would “manage related developments to assess and, if possible, mitigate any impact to its customers colleagues and products as well as legal, regulatory, tax, financial and capital implications.”

Local financial centre development agency Luxembourg for Finance reported earlier this year that around 27 banks and insurance firms would open Luxembourg offices in order to guarantee access to the single European market after Brexit. Among the insurers opening Luxembourg operations, it cited IG, Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, Britannia, CNA Hardy, FM Global, Hiscox, Liberty Mutual, RSA, Sompo and Tokyo Marine. In a report published in April 2018, KPMG put the figure of Brexit relocations to Luxembourg at 32.