The Hartford faces probe

NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — The New York Attorney General is “likely” to act against Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., the sixth-largest US insurer by market value, after a probe over whether it paid brokers hidden fees to generate business.“It is likely that the New York Attorney General’s Office or one or more other regulatory agencies will pursue action against the Company or one or more of its employees in the future,” Hartford said in a regulatory filing last week.

“The company is engaged in discussions regarding the potential resolution of the inquiry.”

In prior filings, the Hartford, Connecticut-based insurer had described such action by New York or others as “possible”. The company hasn’t set aside any money to cover a settlement, said Hartford spokeswoman Shannon Lapierre.

Eliot Spitzer, then the attorney general of New York, in 2004 began investigating suspected abuses in the insurance industry.

He sued Marsh & McLennan Cos. the world’s largest insurance broker, for using secret compensation arrangements and bid rigging.

A number of companies already have settled with regulators, paying more than $3 billion to resolve allegations of improper accounting and anti-competitive practices. Marsh & McLennan paid $850 million.

Griffin profit soars

LONDON (Bloomberg) — Griffin Mining Ltd., a Bermuda- based company that mines zinc in China, said profit rose almost 95-fold last year after production began at the Caijiaying mine.Net income rose to $29.5 million, or 15.45 cents a share, from $311,000, or 0.17 cents, a year earlier, Griffin said yesterday in a statement.

Sales rose almost seven-fold to $42.8 million. The company declared its first dividend of three cents a share.

Upgrades will allow Caijiaying to process more than 500,000 metric tons of ore by the end of this year, from current levels of over 400,000 tons, the company said. Annual processing will rise to 750,000 tons by the end of 2008, it added.

Griffin will produce a second concentrate containing gold, silver and lead and said the expansion in output will benefit from “continued strong commodity prices.”

Old Mutual merges

LONDON (Bloomberg) — Old Mutual Plc, Britain’s third-biggest insurer, merged three UK operations into a single unit and named Brett Williams chief executive officer of the division as part of its plans to control costs.Skandia Life, Skandia MultiFunds and Selestia will operate as one UK business, London-based Old Mutual said yesterday. Williams will report to Nick Poyntz-Wright.

“This structure is a natural step in achieving our cost synergy targets and to realise the full potential of integration with Old Mutual,” said Old Mutual’s Skandia unit chief executive officer Julian Roberts in the statement.

Bunge charters shipsATHENS (Bloomberg) — Quintana Maritime Ltd., a Greek shipper of commodities including iron ore and grain, hired out 17 vessels to Bunge SA for 2009 at a rate of about $21,800 a day.Quintana rented an additional ship to Bermuda-registered Bunge, the world’s biggest oilseed producer, under a separate agreement until September 2009 at a daily rate of $20,000, the Athens-based company said yesterday.

Including the latest agreements, about 74 percent of the expected operating days of Quintana’s fleet have been hired for 2009, according to the statement.

The company said it expects to generate about $186 million in sales in 2009 based on the hire contracts it has so far secured.