K&R: An Old Industry For a New Age

N E W   Y O R K, Jan. 22 -- It's a multimillion dollar industry that unites men in three-piece-suits with kids carrying Kalashnikovs — often with the kids giving orders to the suits.

It has no industry leader, though some countries host more deals than others.

Some of the world's wealthiest companies, like AIG, Chubb, and Lloyds of London, take part — but news of this business rarely shows up in the Wall Street Journal.

And Hollywood has only taken a look at it a handful of times — most recently, in the movie Proof of Life.

Insiders call it K&R, which stands for "kidnap and ransom."

Dealing in the Shadows

Specific information on K&R is rare — and with good reason.

Corporations or families who have had a loved one or employee kidnapped often won't go to police because they are "incompetent, corrupt, or in some countries, confederates of kidnappers," says Brian Jenkins, a Green Beret veteran of the Vietnam War and past chairman of Political Science at the Rand Corporation.

In other countries, going to police may mean kidnappers will never get their money — and the hostage will never be released alive. Italy, for example, passed a law in 1991 intended to reduce the number of ransom kidnappings — by freezing the assets of a kidnap victim's family to prevent payment of a ransom.

Even after the ransom is paid, the impulse to stay quiet remains. "You don't want to give kidnappers a number to aim for," says Jenkins.

Yet, executives doing business overseas feel they face an increased risk of kidnapping nowadays, and many of them are purchasing insurance against it.

"One of the few statistics that we see is about 60 percent of corporate America — large companies, that is — have purchased this type of coverage," says Terry D'Italia, a press officer for Chubb Executive Risk in Simsbury, Conn.

Such executive risk insurance not only pays for ransom, but it also provides advice on how to stop kidnappers before they even get a hostage. More important, it pays for advisers when a ransom needs to be paid.