Lloyd’s Chairman John Nelson has confirmed he will step down at next year’s May AGM as planned, and has warned the UK has much to lose if it leaves the European Union.

He has “some confidence” the June 23 referendum will produce a vote to remain in the EU, but says Lloyd’s has made plans should “Brexit” occur.

“The good news is that… it feels to me as if the Brexit debate taking place in the UK at the moment is thorough and it does give me some confidence there is a reasonable chance the British population will reach the right conclusion,” Mr Nelson said.

“This may be a brave statement that I live to regret, but that’s the way it feels to me.”

Lloyd’s says exiting the EU will hurt London’s position as the biggest commercial and specialty underwriting hub.

Being in the EU means London enjoys unparalleled access to the market of more than 500 million consumers and enhances the British capital’s attraction to non-EU investors.

“Lloyd’s believes strongly that continued membership would be the best outcome and we will continue to make the case for staying in Europe in the run-up to the referendum,” Mr Nelson said. “And for those who say we would have less regulation if we came out of the [EU], I say there will be no regulatory nirvana.

“If we wanted to maintain our trade with the EU, we would have to comply with EU regulation in any event, and I see no sign that UK regulators themselves want to deregulate.”