Lloyd's of London, the historic insurance market, has drawn up plans to move part of its operations to elsewhere within the European Union when Britain exits the bloc.

The company had already warned before the June 23 referendum that it was examining contingency plans in the event of Brexit.

"Following the referendum we committed to looking at the options that would allow the Lloyd's market to continue trading seamlessly with the EU," the group said in a statement sent to AFP on Friday.

"This included establishing a subsidiary model amongst others.

"We will continue to develop our plans on creating a subsidiary and will provide a detailed update to the market on the progress we have made early next year."

Media reports suggested this week that Lloyd's has shortlisted five cities that could include Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris, but the group did not comment on this.

Lloyd's added on Friday that it was in the interests of London's financial centre "to have ease of access to the EU's single market."

Lloyd's currently enjoys "passporting" rights -- which allows EU member states to trade across national borders -- while it also benefits from trade agreements.

It also provides a crucial gateway for international insurance companies to access the rest of the European Union.

Britons voted in favour of quitting the EU despite repeated warnings from the business community over the impact of its departure. afp