Marsh Philippines Inc. has requested the Insurance Commission (IC) to issue a gag order preventing any more media coverage to be released about the IC’s ongoing investigation about the insurance broker’s operations in the Philippines.
According to its eight-page motion, Marsh believes that news reports have come as a result of Prudential Guarantee and Assurance Inc. (PGA) “making several statements to the media and causing the publication of several print and online articles regarding the controversy between PGA and Marsh,” which, in turn, may “prejudge the issue, influence the Honorable Commission, or obstruct the administration of justice in relation to the pending case.”
Late last year PGA filed a complaint which questioned the practice of Marsh using “fronting insurers” to solicit business in the Philippines.
Marsh did not deny this fact, stating to the IC that its fronting insurers would only be paid a nominal fee by prospective clients, while Marsh would be paid a fee commensurate to covering the insurance risk.
Under Section 100 of the local insurance Code, however, a reinsurance broker can only tender brokerage services to an insurer, and cannot offer insurance brokerage nor insurance services directly to a client.
Apart from its seeming violation of IC rules, the commission is, likewise, studying whether or not Marsh is effectively conducting business in the Philippines without a license.
“Contrary to what Marsh claims, there is no ‘controversy between PGA and Marsh.’ My client merely informed the Insurance Commission that someone was not operating within the established rules,” PGA counsel Jose Antonio Bernas said.
“A gag order would be understandable if this were a private issue between two companies, but it is not. This is a government agency investigating allegations of unlawful and unethical activity. The public has every right to know about that.”
Bernas further said that members of the IC would not likely be swayed by media reports.
“I think we have to give the commission more credit than that. Given their credentials and experience, they can surely differentiate what is relevant for news and information versus what is relevant to the case at hand,” he added.
In the past year, Marsh has been beset with regulatory complaints in a number of its global operations, due to alleged confidentiality violations and unethical business practices.
Among these are investigations and hearings conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority and the High Court in the United Kingdom, the Securities Appellate Tribunal, as well as private cases in the United States and the Philippines