Lloyd’s of London agreed to a Ј152 million equivalent to $293 million settlement from six large insurers, a fraction of its original Ј477 million claim against the group led by Swiss Re in order to close an argument between these huge companies in the global insurance industry.

Representatives of both sides Lloyd’s and Swiss Re, of Switzerland, refused to provide any additional comment beyond confirming the settlement. People familiar with the matter said dispute focused on how the Lloyd’s insurance market had covered the cost of doing business in the U.S.

These people say that the dispute appeared, because Lloyd’s had used its Central Fund -- an Ј800 million asset pool used to cover any unpaid claims against Lloyd’s insurance underwriters -- to cover the cost of holding collateral in a U.S. trust fund. Swiss Re, which had agreed with five other insurers in 1999 to cover any losses on the Central Fund, regarded that as an "inappropriate" use of the money, these people said.

Lloyd’s had nothing else to do but to accept the settlement after an arbitration tribunal issued a preliminary ruling in January. In a statement Lloyd’s diclosed that the settlement adjusted for taxation would make Ј323 million hit against its 2004 earnings.

The other insurers in the group headed by Swiss Re are units of General Electric  Co., Fairfield, Conn.; Germany’s Hannover Re; St. Paul Travelers Cos., St. Paul, Minn., and Chubb; and XL Capital Ltd. of Bermuda. Lloyd’s and the six insurers did not disclose the full terms of the settlement.