Lloyd's to reveal trust plan to names

Lloyd's of London will today reveal plans for setting up on trust lines the giant reinsurance vehicle it hopes will rescue it from the crushing burden of old loss-making policies. Lloyd's will tell names, whose money will provide the capital for Equitas, that a trust is the best way of getting back to them any eventual profits from the reinsurance venture.

The fate of the whole ambitious reconstruction and renewal plan for Lloyd's, of which the setting up of Equitas is a key element, will also be influenced today by a key High Court ruling in the long-lasting Merrett trial. This is the first big Lloyd's trial brought by loss-making names involving auditors, in this case Ernst &Whinney (now part of Ernst & Young).