QBE’s proposal to establish a new entity in Belgium as part of its Brexit preparations will not affect its credit quality ratings, S&P Global says.

The ratings agency assesses the insurer’s European operations as core to the group and has

A+/stable ratings on key operating subsidiaries.

“The initiative will not change how we evaluate the creditworthiness of the group or operating subsidiaries,” S&P says. “Consistent with our current approach, we will capture the assessed credit quality of the newly established entity within our group analysis.”

QBE has sought regulatory approval from the National Bank of Belgium and expects the new entity to be operational by the final quarter of this year.