On April 13, 12 different insurance companies apologized for failing to pay benefits for legitimate claims on life and supplemental medical insurance policies. It was the latest chapter in an industry-wide scandal that started with admissions about unpaid benefits for automobile and property insurance.
On TV, I watched the executives stand up and bow to the assembled reporters. Normally, these rituals are performed in conference rooms, but in each one I clearly saw people working at desks in the background. It seemed odd that every company was holding its press conference in the middle of a bustling office, until I realized it was all the same office.
I later inferred from newspaper accounts that the press conferences were held at the Financial Services Agency. Obviously, the FSA was making it easier for these companies to confess their sins publicly by setting up a blanket press conference in their own office. I imagined a line of executives standing in the hallway, waiting their turn to go through the motions.