Willis Group Holdings Chairman and Chief Executive Officer JoePlumeri said his firm will not accept supplemental commissions frominsurers if it judges the payments are in reality contingentcommissions.

His comments were contained in the text of a speech his firmsaid he delivered today at the Financial Services Authority'sannual industry conference in London.

Mr. Plumeri said the supplemental compensation several insurersare proposing will not be accepted by Willis brokerage “if wedetermine that these arrangements are simple contingent commissionsunder a different name.”

Contingent commissions were dropped by Willis and other largebrokers after investigations by New York State and otherjurisdictions found they had served as a hidden reward for brokers'participation in price fixing schemes.

Insurance carriers Travelers and Chubb have both said they aredeveloping supplemental payments to replace contingent commissionsthe companies no longer pay producers. The carriers ceased makingthe payments after reaching an agreement with then New YorkAttorney General Eliot Spitzer and other attorneys general to endalleged abuses.

Mr. Plumeri said even if both the broker's legal department andregulators deem the payments acceptable, the firm still may refuseto accept them if they are not in the interest of the firm'sclients.

“We don't make decisions based on rules and legalinterpretations, we make decisions and run our business based onprincipals,” according to the text of his speech.

Earlier this month, Willis put out a statement saying it wasreviewing the new compensation plans.

However, the firm's approach is not completely “altruistic,” hesaid, noting that the firm expects to be paid for its work.

Discussing other regulatory matters, Mr. Plumeri called for theadoption of an Optional Federal Charter for U.S. insurers, notingthat in the United Kingdom there is “one regulator, one set ofrules, a level playing field.”

He also called for some reform of Sarbanes-Oxley. Withoutmentioning specifics, he said “the law and the resultingregulations have amounted to a yoke around the necks of CEOs andCFOs.”

He said some of the regulations should remain in place, “but ifthe result is that companies are afraid to invest or take risk todrive forward, then the rule has won out over the principal.”

The full text of his speech is available on the Willis home pageat www.willis.com.