Spitzer Subpoenas Endurance on Contingent Commission Payments

Bermuda-based Endurance Specialty Holdings Ltd. reported that its U.S. subsidiary, Endurance Reinsurance Corporation of America, has received a subpoena from the New York Attorney General requesting documents in connection with the investigation into contingent commission agreements.

“Among other things, the subpoena seeks documents concerning efforts by any insurance broker to exclude or limit an insurance company’s access to the insurance market and documents concerning efforts or requests by any insurance broker to manipulate bids or price quotes, or submit false or inflated bids or price quotes in insurance markets,” said a company announcement.

Endurance Specialty Holdings was established by Aon and Zurich following the Sept. 11 attacks. Both companies have substantially reduced their original investment. Aon recently sold virtually its entire stake to Goldman Sachs (See IJ Website Dec. 6), and Zurich sold most of its stake in Sept. 2002. The company held an initial public share offering in Dec. 2002

Endurance stressed that it “has not been named in any lawsuits stemming from the investigation, and that it is “committed to honest and ethical standards of business conduct and intends to fully cooperate with the New York Attorney General’s investigation.”