"It's an obvious question to ask," he said. "It comes up often."

Mr. Garvey--along with the firm's chief executive officer, Roger Egan--are both former presidents of Marsh. At one time, Integro's chairman--Bob Clements--was chairman and CEO of MMC Risk Capital Corp.

None of the executives were aware of the practices cited by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer that were going on in the Excess Casualty Unit, according to Mr. Garvey. That was the unit that allegedly rigged bids and steered insurance contracts to carriers in return for volume-based contingency commissions.

"We are all comfortable saying that we were all unaware that went on," he said, pointing out that Mr. Egan--who was president of Marsh at the time, and for two years oversaw a company of 45,000 employees--could not have been aware of everything that everyone did, especially something confined to one group.

Mr. Egan was asked to resign shortly after Michael Cherkasky took over as president and CEO of Marsh & McLennan Companies, Marsh's parent company. Mr. Garvey replaced Mr. Egan as president of Marsh, only to resign himself a few months later and join Integro.

Mr. Egan noted that "there were many closer to the group, and who were involved in the operations, who are still there."

Integro itself said the upstart firm plans to "offer corporate clients a choice for obtaining optimal insurance solutions, free from conflict-of-interest perceptions." It added that clients would be first and its business practices totally transparent.

Mr. Garvey said the firm will not accept contingency commissions--a position taken by Marsh, Aon and Willis as well following the Spitzer probes.

When questions about the scandal come up from prospects, he said his executives have responded honestly, saying they were not aware of the practices.

"Not to make excuses, but we are proud of all the time we spent at Marsh, and what we achieved speaks for itself," he said. "We feel proud of our relationship with Marsh. We have addressed our clients' concerns, and they are happy with our response. We have nothing to be embarrassed about."

Callout:

"We have addressed our clients' concerns, and they are happy with our response. We have nothing to be embarrassed about," says Integro's president.