NEW YORK (Bloomberg) ? Shares of Marsh & McLennan Cos., the world?s largest insurance brokerage, rose as much as 6.2 percent after the Wall Street Journal said the broker may settle New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer?s bid-rigging charges next week.

Marsh?s stock climbed $1.23, or 4.1 percent, to $31.60 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading at 12.29 p.m., after earlier reaching $32.24.

New York-based Marsh may pay $600 million to $750 million, the Journal said, citing unidentified people familiar with the negotiations.

The accord would be the cornerstone of chief executive officer Michael Cherkasky?s plan to restore investor confidence and retain clients and employees after Spitzer?s October 14 lawsuit accused the broker of fixing prices and steering clients to the insurers that paid the highest fees. The stock today headed for its biggest daily gain since Cherkasky became CEO on October 25.

?They need to do this so they can progress and repair their business,? said Simon Clinch, who helps manage $1.5 billion as head of North American equities at Aberdeen Asset Management in London. He owns shares of competitor Willis Group Holdings Ltd. and doesn?t own Marsh, whose stock has fallen 32 percent since the suit.

The Journal reported that Marsh offered to settle for $600 million, while Spitzer, 45, is seeking $750 million and a public statement of contrition.

Marsh is unwilling to make an apology because it may make the company more vulnerable to lawsuits, the Journal said. A settlement may be made final next week or later this month, the paper said.

In an interview after a New York press conference today on an unrelated matter, Spitzer said an apology was ?equally important? to the amount of the settlement. He declined to comment on the Journal article.

The cost of insuring Marsh?s debt fell after the report. Investors paid about $100,000 to safeguard $10 million of Marsh bonds against default at 9 a.m. yesterday, compared with $110,000 on Thursday, said David Havens, a credit analyst at UBS Securities in Stamford, Connecticut.

More than 20 employees have defected to Willis, and the company faces a ?the real threat of a brain drain,? said UBS?s Havens, who recommends investors sell Marsh bonds. Willis today announced the hire of Ray Pomante, a former Marsh senior vice president who will run Willis?s sports, entertainment and media brokerage area.

Marsh spokesman James Fingeroth and Spitzer spokesman Darren Dopp declined to comment. Dopp said in October that a settlement with Marsh may exceed $500 million.

Spitzer?s suit accused Marsh of conspiring with insurers to provide clients with fake quotes to simulate competition. The system increased the cost of policies and allowed Marsh to chose which insurers would get their clients? business.

Insurance companies participated to maintain their relationship with a broker that controlled 31 percent of the market, according to Standard & Poor?s.

Cherkasky, 54, replaced Jeffrey Greenberg, who was forced to resign after Spitzer refused to negotiate with him. Cherkasky was Spitzer?s boss at the Manhattan district attorney?s office in the early 1990s and joined Marsh last year when it bought Kroll Inc., the investigative firm he led.

The company has enough cash and bank credit to pay $750 million or more, Havens said. Deutsche Bank Securities analyst Alain Karaoglan said he expects $1.1 billion of legal costs from the settlement, shareholder lawsuits and other litigation.