When Confederation Life Insurance Co. was seized by regulators on Agusut 11, 1994, it was the fourth largest insurance company in Canada and the single largest life-insurance company to fail on the continent. Its demise sent shock waves through the financial-services sector -- and through the 300,000 policy and annuity holders in Canada and the 450,000 worldwide, half in the United States. It so damaged public confidence that the entire industry in Canada will never fully recover.