7.1 The reinsurance broker plays a central role in the London market. In broad legal terms he is an agent, but English law has not always found it easy to fit his many and various roles into the legal framework which the law of agency provides, and the reinsurance broker’s role in the market cannot always be analysed as a simple relationship between the client as principal and the broker as agent. The principal reason for this difficulty has been the special relationship developed between Lloyd’s brokers and Lloyd’s underwriters: traditionally, Lloyd’s brokers have performed a number of administrative functions for Lloyd’s underwriters.