Spitzer To Enter N.Y Primary For Governor
By Mark E. Ruquet
NU Online News Service, Dec. 8, 12:13 p.m. EST?New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the man who has become synonymous with reform of the financial service business and a scourge to the insurance industry, is running for governor of his state.[@@]
Mr. Spitzer, a Democrat, announced yesterday he will run for the state's highest office in 2006. On his campaign Web site, www.spitzer2006.com, he said the state's government is "all about partisanship and gridlock"
"The system is broken. The state is facing a crisis," he said. "I want to fix what's broken. It's what I do best."
Most recently, Mr. Spitzer became internationally known in the insurance community after he sued Marsh & McLennan Companies for punitive damages alleging bid-rigging and price-fixing in violation of the state's anti-trust law.
Mr. Spitzer's suit, part of a continuing probe of all aspects of the industry, alleged that Marsh, the MMC broker unit, steered unwitting clients to insurers that were part of the price-fixing scheme in exchange for "payoffs" in the form of contingency fees and commissions.
His investigation of the industry has touched off similar inquiries in a dozen states by insurance regulators and attorneys general.
In New York, the investigation has resulted in guilty pleas by five insurance company executives to criminal charges, the replacement of high ranking executives at MMC, and the end of contingent fee commissions by the world's three largest brokers, Marsh, Aon and Willis.
Mr. Spitzer on his Web site includes an article in which he says his actions against the financial services community were anti-fraud not anti-capitalist.
The site carries an excerpt from an article he wrote for The New Republic discussing Democratic losses in the most recent national election. In the piece he explains his reasons for investigating the financial services industry.
He said Republicans had put corporate interests ahead of consumer interests by failing to protect consumers and accusing his office of meddling in the free enterprise system.
"We did not investigate Wall Street because we were troubled by large institutions making a lot of money; we took action to stop a blatant fraud that was ripping off small investors," he said, adding that Democrats seek a level playing field for everyone.
Mr. Spitzer has lately been regarded as a shoe-in to win the state's Democratic primary following the announcement last month by U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer that he would not be seeking the governorship.
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