NEW YORK (Reuters) ? Property and casualty insurer ACE Limited said it has received 43 subpoenas, interrogatories, civil investigative demands and letters of inquiry in connection with investigations of insurance industry practices.

In its annual report filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, ACE said it received inquiries from the attorneys general in nine US states plus the District of Columbia, and from insurance or other regulatory authorities in ten states.

ACE said it is continuing an internal probe into insurance practices, encompassing matters raised by the SEC, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and other attorneys general.

Spitzer and the SEC have issued subpoenas to ACE for information about non-traditional or loss mitigation insurance products that might be used to help companies smooth earnings.

ACE said it has fired two employees, one of whom pleaded guilty to a misdemeanour, and suspended three others as a result of the probe, which is being led by former US Attorney Mary Jo White. ACE had earlier planned to complete the probe by the end of February.

ACE Limited spokesman Robert Grieves told The Royal Gazette the company had ?no comment? on when its internal investigation would be completed, and the results made public.

Spitzer last October accused Marsh & McLennan Cos., the world?s largest insurance broker, of conspiring with insurers to rig bids. ACE was one of several insurers implicated but not charged in Spitzer?s lawsuit.

ACE?s chief executive is Evan Greenberg. His older brother, Jeffrey, ran Marsh before being ousted 11 days after Spitzer announced the lawsuit.

Their father, Maurice, on Monday stepped down as chief executive of American International Group Inc., the world?s largest insurer by market value.

ACE said it has received inquiries from the attorneys general of Connecticut, the District of Columbia. Florida, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas and West Virginia. It said the other regulatory requests came from California, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Texas.