Guy Carpenter settles with state
The state of Connecticut reached a $4.3 million settlement with Guy Carpenter & Co. L.L.C. and Excess Reinsurance Co., ending an antitrust investigation dating to October 2007.
The settlement resolves Connecticut claims that Guy Carpenter orchestrated a series of conspiracies in the reinsurance industry that illegally inflated insurance and reinsurance costs nationwide. Under terms of the agreement, Guy Carpenter and Excess Reinsurance denied all liability, but agreed to reform its disclosure and quote practices.
“Like the lawsuit, this settlement is ground-breaking in that it requires Guy Carpenter and a number of reinsurers to change the way they conduct business ”“ not just in Connecticut, but on a nationwide basis,” said Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen, in a prepared statement. “As a result of the business reforms that Guy Carpenter has agreed to, the market for reinsurance will be more transparent, more competitive and, ultimately, may lead to lower prices for insurance.”
Jepsen said the litigation was the first of its kind brought by an antitrust enforcement agency ”“ state or federal ”“ in the reinsurance industry, and previously resulted in a $1.3 million settlement with The Hartford Financial Services Group in 2009.
Google, Connecticut continue talks
Connecticut Attorney General George Jepsen said the state will not attempt to enforce a legal demand to collect documents from Google Inc., as part of an ongoing query into the company”™s capture of private data from unsecured broadband wireless networks.
Google has confirmed collecting data in conjunction with its “street view” vehicles that help map out municipalities, but said it does not misuse the information in any manner.
Connecticut and some 40 other states are negotiating with the company to resolve the issue.
Bankruptcies up
Personal bankruptcy filings in Connecticut rose 14 percent to nearly 9,900 in 2010, according to a report from the Boston-based Warren Group, publisher of The Commercial Record.
It was the highest number of Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings since 2005, when nearly 13,300 Connecticut residents filed for Chapter 7 protection from creditors.
Chapter 11 business restructuring bankruptcies declined slightly in Connecticut last year to 131, down from 137 in 2009. Fourth-quarter Chapter 11 filings edged upward to 29 compared to 28 a year ago.
