Marsh UK will announce in January 2005 a new business plan that will focus on offering clients a transparent, fee-structured operation.

Marsh UK chief executive Bruce Carnegie-Brown said: "We are committed to transparency across our business and will make sure clients know what the commission is on the premium while all other services will be fee-based and agreed up front."

This week Michael Cherkasky, Marsh's new chairman and chief executive, visited the UK to meet clients after the Freshfields inquiry found no evidence of bid-rigging in the UK business. It also cleared Marsh of treating its clients detrimentally due to its business practices. Marsh officially stopped using market service agreements on 15 October.

Cherkasky said he hoped to reach a settlement with New York attorney general Eliot Spitzer "within the next two weeks". It is estimated that Marsh may have to pay between $200m and $350m in fines. The broker has put aside $230m of contingent commissions it retrieved in the past quarter into a separate fund to cover any penalties levied against it.

Carnegie-Brown said he was "satisfied" with the inquiry and would meet the FSA this week to discuss the findings in detail. After the report was released last week, the FSA instructed Marsh to appoint a non-executive director to its UK board.

Freshfields partner Raj Parker said: "We had enough time to make the conclusions we framed in the report. If we had found any evidence of bid-rigging or exploitation of clients, we would have asked for more time."

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