Weakest syndicates pull out from Lloyd's
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.LLOYD'S of London has shed many of its weakest syndicates this year, according to Standard & Poor's, the credit rating agency, writes Diane Coyle.
However, it said the level of security in the insurance market was still not clear because of the uncertain size of former liabilities.
In its annual ranking of Lloyd's syndicates, S&P found that 50 per cent of the 159 assessed could be classified as above average in financial strength, up from 40 per cent out of a total of 178 in 1993.
Only five out of the 159 were classified as downright weak, while 35 were 'below average' and 39, or 25 per cent, were 'average'.
Last year, when the agency used only three classifications, 26 per cent of syndicates were below average while 34 per cent were average.
S&P said it believed the weaker syndicates had stopped trading and the frequency of cessations was now beginning to fall. Last year 25 syndicates ceased trading compared with 35 in 1992.
Lloyd's has set a 1996 deadline for the creation of NewCo, a company that will hold all the 'long-tail' liabilities related to pollution and asbestos. These liabilities would be 'ring-fenced', leaving Lloyd's free of their legacy.
S&P said it did not believe it was possible to quantify the amount of funds needed to cover all possible claims and there were too many unanswered questions about what would happen if NewCo ran out of money.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments