Lloyd’s executives are debating how much information to release about the findings of a probe into former Chief Executive John Neal and his relationship with a woman who was promoted to a senior role during his tenure, according to a report from the Financial Times.
“The probe has focused on whether John Neal had an undisclosed romantic relationship with a female employee, who was promoted to the group’s executive committee in 2023 in a newly created role as corporate affairs director…,” said the FT report, quoting people familiar with the matter.
The investigation is being led by London-based law firm Freshfields, which also has “examined broader governance concerns related to Neal’s leadership of the insurance market…,” FT said, noting that Neal led Lloyd’s from 2018 to May 2025.
One source said the decision over how much information to release from Freshfields’ findings would ultimately sit with Lloyd’s chair Sir Charles Roxburgh, who is apparently “reluctant to make significant disclosures about the findings.”
The FT quoted Lloyd’s as follows: “The investigation is ongoing and Lloyd’s is taking a careful and considered approach. We will determine what information it is appropriate to make public once the process is complete, with the aim of being as transparent as possible while also being mindful of our clear duty of care to all those involved.”
When contacted by Insurance Journal, a Lloyd’s representative had no further comment.
Following his departure from Lloyd’s in June 2025, Neal was due to take on the role of president of American International Group (AIG), effective in December 2025.
However, the FT article noted that AIG canceled Neal’s appointment in November before he could take up the role, citing “personal circumstances,” just days before Lloyd’s launched its probe.
(Editor’s note: The FT article, published on May 7, is titled “Lloyd’s of London debates disclosing findings of probe into governance concerns”).
The refund system set up to allow companies to recover illegally collected tariffs from the U.S. government went live on Monday as thousands of companies rushed to file claims.
“So far, so good” – though the system is a little glitchy, said Jay Foreman, CEO of toymaker Basic Fun, which had a team in its “war room” at its headquarters in Boca Raton, Florida, ready to start filing when the system went live at 8 a.m. U.S. Eastern time (1300 GMT).
Foreman said the system didn’t crash as some had feared it might under the onslaught of attempted submissions – but rather would sometimes not allow an upload and force them to retry. The company has over 500 files it needs to upload to the system, although the system permits these to be uploaded in batches.
“However, if you load too many or the system is too busy it will kick them back,” Foreman said in an email about how the process was working in the early moments. “We’ve got over 50% of our invoices loaded so far. We are hoping in the next few hours to have them all loaded. I’m very happy we got this process started early.”
Companies contacted by Reuters in recent days expressed concerns about the durability of the new system, created by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in response to a court order that it prepare to return up to $166 billion to importers.
“I’m relieved that the portal seems to be functioning properly,” said Cassie Abel, CEO of Idaho-based outerwear company Wild Rye. Abel had her customs broker make the submission, which she said cost her $250 for the first phase of the filing.
