Bermuda-based Arch Capital Group Ltd. said on Wednesday that its Arch Insurance Group unit had received an "investigative demand" from the Office of the Attorney General of Minnesota.

The company, which was set up in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks and the following capital crunch in the markets, said the AG's request was for certain information concerning relationships with and payments to insurance brokers and agents.

Arch Insurance Group reported the request in a regulatory filing and also said that it has received "various formal and informal information requests from insurance regulatory authorities as to relationships with, and payments to, brokers and other agents."

The filing said: "The company intends to cooperate with these requests."

Practices in the insurance industry have come under scrutiny ever since New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, filed suit against Marsh accusing the brokerage of bid rigging and collusion.

In its earnings report earlier this month, Arch Capital said that while it was not presently aware of any of its employees having engaged in any bid-rigging, it had engaged a law firm to conduct an internal review with respect to these issues as a proactive measure.

Arch Capital said at the time, that since 2002, certain subsidiaries of the company have entered into some placement service and market service agreements with insurance brokers under which the company had paid a total of approximately $19.5 million.