Page 195 - harryDEC12_clean.iba

„No problem,“
I answered-
„My father would have appreciated your salut, but I am of Austrian descent, which in your eyes brings me even closer to Adolf Hitler, but in fact, that is not the case."
Stuart laughed and said:
„Okay, what have we got here ..?“
I produced the slip with the signature of Orion and laid it on the table. Stuart read the contents and then said:
„Brian is a good leader for the companies‘ Market, but for Lloyd’s my signature on the contract would have more weight. I think after my blunders of yesterday, I owe you support. “
Without further discussion he took his pen and wrote in large letters 20%, stamped the slip with the insignia of the syndicate and gave it to his secretary to copy.
„With this share you should get ahead in the Lloyd’s Market.“
Then he turns to John and says,
„Baader will follow me in any case with a good share - 15%, I believe - with 50% from three leading insurers you should be in a position to complete the cover quickly.“
"Many thanks. I think we need a strong FÜHRER for the Lloyd’s Market, and who is more suitable than you, sir? One more question: Where do you hide your Swastika Stamp?”
John mentioned casually, playing with the words. He gave Stuart a bright grin and put the slip in an open leather envelope called a ‚slip case‘. Then we went to lunch. After that incident, Stuart became a strong ally of me for the future, and in the afternoon we saw Michael Baxter, my old friend from my „Hamburg“ time. He took over a further 10% and with Baader, who accepted the expected 15%, the cover was 60% complete. Satisfied, we went back to our office, taking in a few drinks on the way, as was fitting for every success, and handed over the slip to Terence, who also got some friends to participate, and the rest was taken care of by the firm’s junior brokers. Within a week the contract was signed and delivered, even if finally we took a share from the Grand Union. But that was no problem for AIU, since the origins of the parent company AIG lay in China, where in 1919 an American named Cornelius Van der Starr founded an insurance agency with the name American Asiatic Underwriters (AAU) in Shanghai, from which a giant of the insurance industry had developed.
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