NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - New York Governor David Paterson plans to open an insurance exchange to take a portion of the North American business placed at the Lloyd's of London market.

The exchange may bring an additional $7 billion to $10 billion in premium revenue and "enhance New York's status as the world's financial centre", Mr. Paterson said in a fact sheet posted on the governor's website and linked to his State of the State address yesterday.

Insurers, investment banks, hedge funds and private equity pools will form syndicates to offer coverage of commercial risks "in a manner similar to Lloyd's of London", Mr. Paterson said.

New York abandoned an exchange in the 1980s, and the state's insurance department considered reviving the marketplace as recently as last year. James Wrynn, the state's insurance superintendent, said he expects the exchange will focus on cyber security, professional indemnity, terrorism and reputational risk as well as more traditional coverage including catastrophe, marine and aviation.

"We're looking to find our own niche and to supplement what is already provided by Lloyd's," Mr. Wrynn said yesterday in a conference call. "Whether it will be this year or next year, that's not the priority. The only thing I will say is that we will move along with this as quickly as we can."