The Cigna Corporation, which is being sued for in excess of $200 million by Bermuda insurance giant ACE Ltd, has said that it was "confident'' that figures it gave were accurate.

The reinsurance giant ACE Ltd., which became a world player with the acquisition of part of the Cigna group earlier this year, revealed last Wednesday that it had filed a law suit in the US against Cigna.

The suit is for breach of contract arising from its acquisition of Cigna's property and casualty business last July.

ACE paid $3.45 billion for the business but contends that Cigna has withheld $48 million that it is entitled to under the tax-sharing agreement that formed part of the acquisition agreement.

ACE also claims that financial statements provided by Cigna, "failed to fairly represent the financial condition of the acquired companies''.

A release from the ACE also held that the financial statement impact of the items under dispute, has been reflected in its consolidated financial statements prior to September 30, 2000.

But Cigna, which sold its property and casualty operations to ACE in order to focus on health care, said that its representations of the property and casualty business were "accurate and prepared according to generally accepted accounting principles''.

It also said that it is not uncommon in big merger deals for one of the parties to file a claim at or near the legal deadline by which any claims must be made.

Cigna said ACE has until January 1 to make merger-related claims. Cigna shares fell $2.27 to $124.86 in late afternoon trading on Wednesday in New York, while ACE shares also fell, down $2 to $40.

A statement from ACE said: "The financial statement impact included adjustments to goodwill and other balance sheet items and was determined without including any amounts to be recovered from Cigna as a result of the lawsuit,'' the company said.

"Accordingly, the financial results for the quarter ended December 31, 2000 will not be impacted by the items included in the lawsuit.'' Ace is seeking a trial by jury in the US District Court Southern District of New York, where the suit was filed.