Minister Martin welcomes new operation by Legal & General

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheá1 Martin TD today (Thursday 22nd November, 2007) welcomed the establishment by Legal & General, the UK owned Life and Investment Groups, of a new Irish based subsidiary - Legal & General International (Ireland) Limited (LGII) in Dublin.

LGII has been established as a specialist cross border Life company. Initially the company will focus on cross border sales into the UK market from its Dublin base but over time it will look to expand its offering beyond the UK into other countries, particularly within the European Union. Plans to recruit approximately 20 Dublin based personnel are already underway and a similar number of Dublin based jobs are being created within its service partner IPSI as a direct result of this business operation.

Speaking at today’s announcement Minister Martin said, “Legal & General is a highly reputable company and its decision to locate in Dublin is a ringing endorsement of Ireland’s global reputation in the international life insurance sector. IDA Ireland worked closely with the company to win this operation for Ireland. There was intense competition from other global locations for this strategic project and we are delighted that Ireland was chosen.”

LGII will draw on services provided directly by its own staff and outsourced support provided by Irish Progressive Services International (IPSI), an Irish Life & Permanent subsidiary, as a third party administrator. LGII employees will provide local management, financial and regulatory control, product design, and sales & marketing support. IPSI will provide administration systems and a range of back office processing.

David Fagan, CEO of LGII, speaking at today’s announcement said, “Ireland was chosen for this investment as it has a strong customer focused regulatory environment relative to other jurisdictions. Ireland’s regulatory regime allows appropriate flexibility in selection of funds for investment. This coupled with the availability of a skilled workforce, strong service partners and advisers and a business friendly corporate tax regime makes Ireland an attractive centre for new business.”

ENDS/ETE 1820