Go-ahead for Lloyd's shake-up

THE widespread shake-up of the Lloyd's insurance market is set to proceed following strong approval for the proposals at a meeting held this week. The results showed that 79.9% of the capacity-weighted vote was in favour of the changes, which will end the ability of so-called Names to have unlimited underwriting capacity.

About 3,350 Lloyd's individual members voted against the reforms, though this is less than the one-third minimum needed to block the bylaws that will be used to implement the changes.

The reforms will give the Lloyd's governing council greater control over the syndicates' activities, through the creation of a franchise system. They are also aimed at replacing the three-year accounting procedure with an annual assessment. That forms part of efforts to eliminate some of the peaks and troughs in Lloyd's financial results.