Conflict

This book is dedicated to the Members of Lloyd’s, to the hundreds of investors who died from suicide, stress and despair, to the thousands who faced bankruptcy or ruin and the few who fought to the bitter end and survived – against all odds, against a conspiracy of the British political Establishment, in order to preserve the name and earnings of Lloyd’s of London, at any cost – for the greater good of the City of London and the Exchequer of Britain as a whole. These who were literally sacrificed, may they live on in their defiance.

In the past years, Lloyd’s of London has been beset by enormous conflicts of interest, both financial and others which have almost brought this world-famous insurance market to its knees. I have endeavoured in this book to write a novel which shows such conflict in fictional terms. Although this story is loosely based upon several true episodes including an unexplained murder of a few years’ ago.

In this fictionalised account, David Seaton, a director of the Lloyd’s insurance brokerage firm of Wallis Fleurey, is murdered by a professional hitman. The official police enquiry finds for a case of ‘Mistaken Identity’. However, Justin DeVille, the Chief Executive at Wallis’s carries out a personal investigation, which takes him from London to Buenos Aires, Miami and Zurich unravelling a web of intrigue, conflict and deception. He teams up with Cat Townend, a British Intelligence operative and their relationship steams between the sheets.

Jay Michaelson spent 22 years as a Lloyd’s insurance broker, specialising in the placement of reinsurance contracts, both within Lloyd’s and the international reinsurance markets. He brings an insider’s approach to Lloyd’s, as an institution, although previously shrouded in respect, being beset in the 1980s and 1990s by many and diverse commercial pressures.

The author brings, through this fiction, a portrait of the various conflicts resulting; reflecting Lloyd’s establishment hierarchy known in the trade; as the Market Mafia, the intrigues known as the Magic Circles and the laissez-faire buccaneer spirit of many of the market personalities, with various underwriters being known in the market by their pseudonyms such as Goldfinger, Tricky Dicky and Betty Boo.

He spent his childhood in England, being brought up through the English public school system and then went on to Paris for further studies. As a result of his background and education, he believed stalwartly in the primary insurance principle and ethic of Uberrima Fides (With Utmost Good Faith).

He became an investor, a Lloyd’s Member commonly referred to as a Name (as in days of old when Lloyd’s was situated in a coffee shop in the City of London, each Member of Lloyd’s would sign his name at the bottom of the insurance policy).

From what he has subsequently ascertained, he was motivated to write this novel. For some years, he has lived in the Caribbean—Florida, the Bahamas and Havana, Cuba and has now returned to London.

Customer Reviews

5.0

2 reviews

Jeremy Lyons

I finished it today on the plane back from Milan. I could not stop reading it; I promise you! Years ago, i was the same with Dick Francis novels (he was a client as well and lived in Ft Lauderdale)
Simon Barder

For a first novel this is a well written fiction with a fast-moving story line. The author worked in the London insurance market particularly in Lloyd's of London. Lloyd's has changed beyond all recognition in the past 30 years and this story brings to life the goings on of the old marketplace. Posh criminals chasing money! The story reads in a very plausible credible way, because it is partly true. The author dedicates the book to investors who suffered severe financial loss or even their lives at Lloyd's. This is a worthy act. The book manages to describe the investors' woes but in a genuine and sympathetic way. A thoroughly enjoyable read with twists. Can't wait for the successor.