CIAB President Ken A. Crerar, in a statement, said, "As the initial shock of New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's allegations of wrongdoing against Marsh & McLennan Companies Inc. begins to subside, the commercial insurance marketplace now is beginning to grapple with what needs to be done to restore client confidence."

"Given the gravity of the charges that have been made, it is unlikely the insurance industry ever will return to ?business as usual,'" he pointed out.

Mr. Crerar noted while the fees have existed for years, it is imperative that producers become transparent in their dealings and disclose their arrangements to clients to ensure trust and understanding. The fees are also an important form of compensation to brokers for services they provide for carriers.

"Without any kind of a reasonable compensation for this service?which can be determined only after a loss history is established?the value of the broker and the incentives from good risk management can be eroded," he said.

IIABA's Chief Executive Officer Robert A. Rusbuldt, who has condemned Marsh's alleged practice of price-fixing and bid-rigging, was critical of "growing mischaracterizations" of agent practices among some private-sector interest groups, over the issue of incentive compensation programs.

"To suggest that incentive compensation should be ended because a few bad actors abuse it is like saying we should ban college athletics because some programs may cheat," he said in a statement.

He called suggestions that agents would delay claims filings to enhance the chance of receiving incentive bonuses based on customers' loss ratios "ludicrous."

A responsible agent, he said, "simply is not going to delay the filing of a claim?"

The association called again for the passage of a plan being proposed by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Mike Oxley, R-Ohio, and Insurance Subcommittee Chairman Richard Baker, R-La., to preserve state-based regulation while setting federal guidelines for insurers.

Charles Symington, IIABA senior vice president of Federal Government Affairs, said a federal regulator was no guarantee that illegality would be stopped. In fact, he said, federal regulation would ultimately provide weaker oversight than currently exists.