top multinational companies in captive insurance services.

For more than a decade, Lloyd's has watched its market share slip away to big multinational companies in the US and UK which insure themselves by setting up their own captive insurers in domiciles like Bermuda.

Some reports suggest the latest proposal for Lloyd's to accept these companies could come as a blow to such captive domiciles which also include Gibraltar and the Isle of Man.

It is understood Lloyd's will have measured the level of interest shown by the companies within four months.

And if enough interest is shown, the market could start accepting syndicates as early as the beginning of 2000.

Lloyd's would set up and run the captives which would still be backed by parents.

But before that happens the Treasury Department must give the green-light on several regulatory concerns like whether the captives would be able to draw on Lloyd's central reserves.