Settlement in $2.1 Million Insurance Antitrust Case
Investigation uncovers collusion in Bermuda insurance market
AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today settled a
$2.1 million antitrust case with a large commercial casualty insurance
company that conspired to avoid competition with the same companies
that were its own original investors.
Between 2001 and 2004,
Allied World Assurance Co. (AWAC) of Bermuda, and companies affiliated
with American International Group (AIG) conspired to coordinate bidding
opportunities and share client information.
“An
open, competitive marketplace is critical to the success of our
capitalist system,” Attorney General Abbott said. “Texans will not
tolerate anticompetitive schemes that violate the law and drive up
prices. We will continue cracking down on unlawful operations that hurt
Texas policyholders.”
Under the terms of the agreed final
judgment, AWAC is prohibited from coordinating with its founding
companies on the pricing, marketing, underwriting or quoting of its
insurance policies. Those founding companies include AIG, Chubb and
Goldman Sachs. According to the judgment, AWAC must maintain an
operational separation from its founding companies. AWAC is also
prohibited from using policyholder databases maintained by the founding
companies and may not allocate customers or submit bids in a manner
that violates antitrust laws.
