The Six-Feet Over/Under

In a macabre backwater of finance, gamblers bid against each other to buy life insurance payouts on people who have yet to die. While the game sounds exotic, the close ties between two of its players are business as usual for Wall Street.

Advanced Settlements, a top broker in the fast-growing "life settlements" market, has an especially cozy relationship with one of the market's big buyers, a review shows.

The three co-presidents of Orlando, Fla.-based Advanced Settlements are the majority shareholders of Abacus Settlements, a firm that pays cash to people who are willing to bargain away the right to their death benefit while they're still living. Insurance industry regulatory filings reveal that Advanced Settlements executives Scott Kirby, Sean McNealy and Matthew Ganovsky each own a 25% equity stake in the two-year-old Abacus.

Craig Seitel, the president of Abacus, owns the remaining 25% equity interest. He's listed in regulatory filings as the operational manager of the firm, which is based in New York. The executives at Advanced, a division of National Financial Partners(NFP Quote), are described as passive members at Abacus, with "no day-to-day responsibilities relating to the operations.'' ...