While giving no details, Bermuda-based XL Capital Ltd., the parent of Security Capital, said in an SEC filing that it received a grand jury subpoena from the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan seeking documents related to guaranteed municipal investment contracts.

XL said another subsidiary it did not identify also received a subpoena from the SEC for its investigation titled “In the Matter of Certain GIC Brokers.”

New York-based Financial Security Assurance, a member of the Dexia Group, a European banking group, said in a statement that it too received a subpoena from the same U.S. Attorney's Office related to an investigation into alleged bid-rigging of awards.

The insurer said it is not aware of any specific allegations concerning its own practice.

Brian Moore, a spokesman for FGIC Corp., the holding company for Financial Guaranty Insurance Company, based in New York, said the subpoena it received related to the awarding of municipal contracts and contained no specific allegations from the Justice Department.

He said the company, which sold the contracts through affiliates, discontinued those dealings three years ago, after it was sold by Fairfield Conn.-based General Electric Co. to a group of investors. He said GE kept the affiliates.

GE has said it, too, received subpoenas.

All involved said they are cooperating in the investigations.

Municipal guaranteed contracts relate to municipal construction bonds and the investment of the funds when they are not initially spent on projects.

The money is invested in the guarantee contracts to earn interest, but the investment return cannot exceed the bond obligation. Insurers guarantee the municipality a return on the money until it is used for the construction projects.

Rating agencies said they were taking no action on the reports.

Moody's Investors Service said the ratings for the three insurers would remain stable at this time. However, it would be watching developments closely and comment further when new material information emerges.

New York-based Standard & Poor's, referring to XL exclusively, said the subpoenas would result in no rating action at this time, but warned that it is possible more subpoenas would be issued to other insurers in connection with the investigation.

Fitch Rating said the investigation appears to be focused on the insurance brokers and not the carriers themselves. It noted that reports that the FBI raided brokers dealing in the product.

Fitch said it did not envision the insurers' ratings being affected by the investigations.

It was reported late Friday that American International Group and one of its subsidiaries received a subpoena.