Europe's leading insurance companies rival it in terms of non-life premiums written and balance-sheet oomph.

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It's a similar dynamic to what is happening with Wall Street banks that committed to fund leveraged buyouts, only to have trouble selling those loans in the syndicated loan market--they have to hold them on balance sheet until the credit markets come back to life.

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It also has taken up to 26 months for some to go through the VDP process, and that cost in Life Credit Units (LCUs) never gets accounted for on a reconciliation balance sheet.

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