Wells Fargo appeal

WELLS FARGO Insurance Services plans to file an appeal against last week’s ruling by a Connecticut Supreme Court judge the broker’s Acordia Inc unit violated the law by accepting undisclosed contingent commissions from insurers to whom it steered business. The court said Acordia had a fiduciary duty to inform clients it received contingent fees from carriers. The insurers that paid Acordia nearly $200m in fees from 2000 to 2005 included Travelers, Hartford, RSA Insurance, Atlantic Mutual Insurance and Chubb, the Connecticut attorney-general’s (AG) office alleged. Connecticut was among the most active states in bringing lawsuits over contingent fees and rigging of bids for large commercial accounts in the wake of then-New York AG Eliot Spitzer’s case against Marsh in 2004. The latest court ruling “confirms our hard-fought position secret agreements and kick-backs are bad for businesses and bad for consumers”, Connecticut AG, Richard Blumenthal, said. “Wells Fargo must now identify and eventually disgorge profits it illegally earned .”