about one-fifth of the $25 million in reinsurance money sought has been collected.

There has been some difficulty recovering money from Lloyd's of London syndicates, said Mr. Charles W. Kempe of Kempe & Whittle/Ernst & Young in Bermuda, joint liquidator with Mr. Nigel Hamilton of Ernst & Young in the UK.

"It may be surprising that there are so many Lloyds syndicates,'' with amounts outstanding, he said.

The difficulty may stem from liquidity problems among some of the Lloyd's syndicates involved, he added.

"Some of the syndicates are insolvent while others are outright dilatory,'' he said. Mr. Kempe said, despite the difficulties associated with the syndicates, liquidators "intend to pursue all of these amounts with vigour''.

Liquidators originally sought $25 million in reinsurance recoverables from about 250 Mentor reinsurance debtors and as at June 30 Mr. Kempe said $5 million had been collected. Of the 250 debtors, about 100 are Lloyd's syndicates while about 150 reinsurance companies are involved.

"We are still seeking $20 million'' from syndicates and companies within that group, said Mr. Kempe.

Liquidation proceedings against many companies cited in a group of ten writs filed with Bermuda Supreme Court on March 29 have been discontinued because the liquidators have recovered debts. In that group of ten writs, defendants were cited 58 times with 36 actions had been discontinued. It was reported earlier that creditors have been paid a total of $230.6 million, representing 55 cents on the dollar. Ten months ago, while announcing the distribution of the last $150 million, Mr. Kempe said, "Over the last nine years, we have established a very good relationship with Mentor's major reinsurers and have negotiated substantial commutations in that period. There remain a number of reinsurers, however, which appear to believe that the size of their debt, their geographic location or their general recalcitrance will allow them to avoid their obligations.''