For Whom The Bell Tolls

At Lloyd's of London the Lutine bell--salvaged from a wrecked Royal Navy frigate of the same name--was traditionally rung once to signify disaster and twice to herald a ship's safe return. The ritual ended in the 1980s, but if ever an excuse to revive it were needed, it came last week. After a 20-week courtroom conflict described by Justice Peter Cresswell as "the largest and most complex piece of civil litigation this jurisdiction has ever seen," Lloyd's was found not guilty of defrauding investors. A jubilant Lloyd's chairman Max Taylor refrained from giving the Lutine a double ring, but he was...