Allianz Probed in US Insurance Scandal

German insurance giant Allianz revealed Thursday that it, too, is being investigated in connection with the huge bid-rigging scandal between insurance brokers and insurance companies in the United States. General state prosecutors in Connecticut had formally requested information from Allianz's US unit Allianz Life, a company spokeswoman told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The request "was submitted to us at the beginning of November," she said, but insisted that no lawsuit had actually been filed against Allianz. The authorities were demanding information about the cooperation between Allianz Life and insurance brokers. "We feel very relaxed about this and cannot ascertain any wrongdoing on our part," she said. The investigation is part of a massive probe into industry practices following a suit by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer against the world's biggest insurance brokers, Marsh and McLennan, which is accused of steering clients to insurers with whom it had lucrative payoff agreements. (AFP)