Regulators will conduct a new hearing this week on a local insurer’s grievance against Marsh UK, which has been accused of breaking Philippine laws.

Prudential Guarantee and Assurance, Inc. filed a formal complaint in October before the Insurance Commission (IC), claiming that United Kingdom-based Marsh — which it formerly tapped as a reinsurance broker — had solicited business illegally and also unlawfully disclosed confidential information.

“I think we have a scheduled hearing this coming week… this is the only detail I can divulge,” IC Regulatory, Enforcement and Prosecution officer in charge Brian Sibuyan told The Manila Times.

A mediation hearing was previously conducted last December.

Prudential Guarantee, which has also asked the IC to consider revoking the license of Marsh’s Philippine unit, noted that it was not the only company accusing the British firm of mishandling trade secrets.

It said that Aon Consulting, Inc. had sued Marsh and its subsidiary, Marsh & McLennan Agency, for allegedly obtaining Aon survey data without authorization and using it in their own business.

The lawsuit was filed in a US court last October.

Prudential Guarantee has also filed a complaint against Marsh executives before the Department of Justice over the disclosure of confidential electronic data.

In an eight-page affidavit, Prudential Guarantee claimed that this led to the loss of a key insurance account.

Prudential Guarantee, through lawyer Jose Antonio Bernas, last year claimed that the head of Marsh Singapore personally solicited business from carrier Cebu Air, Inc. in behalf of Marsh UK, in the process breaking local laws as it did not have a local license.

Cebu Air, the operator of low cost airline Cebu Pacific, ultimately decided not to renew its contract with Prudential Guarantee.

Sibuyan, who also declined to provide details following the December hearing, has said that in this kind of case, the IC could take up to a year before coming up with a resolution.

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