A controversial New York producer compensation disclosure regulation complies with the law and is necessary to inform consumers about possible conflicts of interest, the state's attorney general and leading candidate for governor argued in a court filing.

"It is not a radical concept for a customer to know how the customer's representative is being compensated so that any potential or actual conflict of interest may be properly evaluated," New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in filing a response in the state's Supreme Court in Albany to a lawsuit challenging the regulation.

Explaining the potential for a conflict of interest, Mr. Cuomo–the presumptive favorite in this November's New York governor's race–said that "where the producer receives an incentive payment for recommending a particular insurer or insurance product to its customer, there is an inherent conflict of interest in this structure."