MMC said it did not admit or deny guilt.

"Today's settlement is a significant step forward for MMC?its people, its clients, and its shareholders," said Michael G. Cherkasky, president and chief executive officer of MMC, in a statement. "It removes a major uncertainty for the company and enables us to focus all of our attention on serving our clients."

The suit grew out of an investigation begun by Mr. Spitzer's office into insurance industry broker incentive payments.

In October, the attorney general sued MMC for state anti-trust violations charging the firm's brokerage subsidiary, Marsh, the world's largest broker, with abuses related to the contingency fees that included bid-rigging and price-fixing.

That action, which sought punitive damages, alleged that the payments Marsh accepted from American International Group, Ace Ltd. and Zurich American were in effect kickbacks for steering commercial insurance customers to those three participants in the scheme.

To date, six insurance executives have pleaded guilty to criminal charges growing out of the scandal.

Mr. Spitzer, in announcing the suit, had indicated he had difficulty dealing with MMC's management at that time. Subsequently, MMC's then-CEO Jeffrey Greenberg resigned his position.