[1] For example, the buyer of a "$100million limit US Wind ILW attaching at $20bn" will pay a premium to a protection writer (generally a reinsurer but sometimes a hedge fund) and in return will receive $100million if total losses to the insurance industry from a single US hurricane exceed $20bn.
For example, Professor Lawrence A. Cunningham of George Washington University suggests adapting similar mechanisms to the risks that large auditing firms face in cases asserting massive securities law damages.
SIGMA, a division of Swiss Re, is often the source for such losses outside the US, with Munich Re's NatCAT Service appearing more and more often on ex-US business.
The benchmark contract for the market for a number of years around Hurricane Katrina was $20bn US Wind and Quake.
In addition, brokers including Willis and Access Re publish estimated bid and offer levels and attempt to arrange trades.