The European Commission has decided to close its investigation into the ability of British law to adequately supervise Lloyd’s, effectively scuttling the last hopes of Names who lost their fortunes in the asbestos-led crisis of the late 1980s.

The Names – private investors who until recently provided most of Lloyd’s capital – had petitioned the commission to judge whether the British Government had been derelict in its duty at the time of the market’s near-collapse by failing to properly regulate it. Lloyd’s administered itself until two years ago, when the new Financial Services Authority was set up.

The commission has passed on the evidence it has collected to the European Parliament, which has the choice of running its own investigation.