Zurich Financial Services' US arm Zurich American Insurance Company and its subsidiaries (ZAIC) have reached settlements with nine state attorneys general and one insurance commissioner relating to their industry-wide investigations into broker compensation and insurance placement practices.
The agreements call for total payments of $171.7 million and require the implementation of new disclosure and compliance regimes. ZAIC does not admit to any violation of US federal or state laws as part of the settlements, the insurer said in a statement.
Some of these settlements are dependent on court approvals, as well as various other conditions. In addition, Zurich is also engaged in negotiations with other state legal and regulatory authorities, and hopes to bring these to a successful resolution.
James J Schiro, chief executive officer of Zurich, said, We are pleased that today’s announcement brings a greater sense of clarity and transparency to the quoting process for our customers in the United States, and we look forward to working collaboratively with our producers and business partners in this new environment.
We will not tolerate any compromise of our ethical standards. In addition, beyond remaining committed to working constructively with regulatory authorities when improper behavior is identified, we have significantly enhanced our compliance function over the past two years, and continue to institutionalize global best practices, he added.