Britain needs Brexit transitional deal - insurance trade body

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain should commit to transitional arrangements after it leaves the European Union, or insurers may leave the country ahead of Brexit, the director general of the Association of British Insurers said on Wednesday. "We call on the government to make a clear commitment that it will seek an early agreement with our European partners on a high level transitional implementation period which will help avoid economic shocks to both the EU and UK," Huw Evans said in the text of a speech to be delivered in Dublin later on Wednesday. An early agreement on transitional arrangements would allow "the firms most affected by Brexit not to take swift decisions in 2017 on scaling back UK operations," Evans added. Insurers have been more vocal than banks in outlining contingency plans to move operations out of Britain if the country no longer has access to the single European market. Britain must negotiate a staggered departure from the European Union over several years or risk banks leaving the country, the British Bankers' Association will warn the government in coming weeks, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters last week. (Reporting by Carolyn Cohn; Editing by Rachel Armstrong)