The Shadow of Great Britain

682: Chapter 332: Big Hand in Financial City_2 682: Chapter 332: Big Hand in Financial City_2 Although the merchants were satisfied with the location of the Royal Exchange, they were not happy with the method of leasing it.

Therefore, they purchased the office building of the Royal Exchange outright and made it the trading floor for Lloyd’s Insurance.

The distinction of Lloyd’s Insurance from other insurance companies was that it was not so much a company in the conventional sense, but rather a public trading platform for individual insurance merchants.

If modern concepts were to be applied, Lloyd’s Insurance was an outright Syndicate-type monopoly.

In terms of independence, though the participants of the Syndicate maintained independence in production and legally, they were completely subjugated commercially to the headquarters and could not act independently.

Members of the Syndicate had to be highly unified commercially; they could not have direct contact with the market and could only negotiate business through the Syndicate.

If a member of the Syndicate wanted to leave, they would have to bear substantial costs, including rebuilding the procurement system and reestablishing contact with the market.

Additionally, leaving might also face obstructions and ostracization from the Syndicate.

Lloyd’s Insurance was such an insurance Syndicate, made up of thousands of insurance merchants from around the world, all operating independently or jointly underwriting through Lloyd’s Insurance platform.

In the underwriting business of Lloyd’s Insurance, the smaller deals might involve only a few people, while some large-scale projects could see hundreds of people co-insuring.

The unique structure of Lloyd’s Insurance also resulted in a rapidly increasing number of members since its inception.

Here, if you could prove assets of five hundred British Pounds, you could become an insurance partner at Lloyd’s Insurance.

This special development model allowed Lloyd’s Insurance to, after changes over half a century, capture ninety percent of Britain’s maritime industry and fifty percent of the world’s maritime insurance business.

Almost all vessels moored at London docks were, without exaggeration, underwritten by Lloyd’s Insurance.

And because of the huge cash flow held by Lloyd’s Insurance, it was a force not to be underestimated at the London Stock Exchange.

Even in political circles, London’s dignitaries always valued this group of insurance merchants who supported the maritime empire.

The reason is simple, for these merchants brought hundreds of millions of British Pounds from overseas each year, continuously delivering gold and silver into mainland Britain.

Having made money, the partners of Lloyd’s Insurance also developed a keen interest in politics; they liked to sponsor members of Parliament and would even stand for election themselves.

As for their political views, leaving other aspects aside, at least in foreign relations, they maintained a preference for peace, just like most businessmen.

It is well-known that wealth naturally abhors risk.

Thus, except for a few industries, most usually shun war.

And speaking of which type of wealth detests war the most, undoubtedly, it has to be those selling insurance, especially large transnational corporations like Lloyd’s Insurance.

In a war between two countries, no matter who won, they generally lost money.

The list in Arthur’s hands contained many names he found familiar; he had even met some face-to-face during his recent visit to the House of Commons.

Since the Polish issue arose last year, these members closely tied to Lloyd’s Insurance had been continually advocating in the House of Commons that Poland and Russia should maintain a restrained stance.

And when the Westminster Confederation hoped the Government could intervene in the Polish issue, the reaction of these individuals was quite vehement.

Thinking back, although Lloyd’s Insurance did not wish for Poland and Russia to go to war, since this had already become a fait accompli, their current priority was to coordinate the relations between Britain and Russia as much as possible to avoid further conflicts between these two world powers.

After all, Poland being trampled by Russia had little impact on Lloyd’s Insurance, but if Russia started trouble with Britain, it would be difficult for these insurance merchants not to remember the frequent news during the Napoleonic Wars of merchant ships being sunk at sea.

The seven Coalitions against France were not just a disaster for France; simultaneously, they were a catastrophe for Lloyd’s Insurance.

For these insurance brokers—it was a misfortune indeed to send their hard-earned pounds under the cannons!

Facing these uniquely minded “pacifists,” Arthur could not clearly express how he truly felt.

If it were said that Lloyd’s Insurance deeply involved itself in the assassination attempt in Liverpool, then many questions indeed would make sense.

With the capabilities of these insurance merchants, tracking Arthur’s movements in a port city like Liverpool was a piece of cake, and indeed it was a miracle the assassination didn’t kill Arthur.

This only indicated that they really weren’t intent on causing a major fallout with the Government or on taking Arthur’s life.

Alternatively, they might have consulted the higher-ups from the start, aiming only to make headline-grabbing news.

After all, if a Scotland Yard inspector really died in Liverpool without a proper explanation, it would embarrass the Cabinet.

Thinking about this, Arthur finally understood why the investigation progress of the House of Commons investigating committee was so slow.