Every year thousands of people are kidnapped for ransom. Their families, friends, or employers are forced into a fiendishly complex and harrowing transaction with violent criminals to retrieve them. How do you agree a ‘fair’ price for a loved one—who may be tortured or killed as you deliberate? How do you securely deliver a sack of cash to the criminals’ lair?

Sean was joined by Anja Shortland who wrote a book examining the intricate governance system created by special risk insurers at Lloyd’s of London to guide and shape their customers’ interactions with the criminal underworld, rebel groups, and traditional elites.

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