"Transparency in government is a pre-requisite to financial oversight and budgetary control regardless of the size and make-up of the public entity. Public sector employees are held to high standards of transparency whenever they provide programming and services to their communities. These high standards are especially pertinent when it comes to the management of public funds," PRIMA said.

The Alexandria, Va.-based association is the largest association dedicated solely to risk management in the public sector, with membership of more than 2,000 public entities in over 1,800 jurisdictions of varying sizes, budgets and complexities.

PRIMA said in the statement that it would like to "reiterate that full and mandatory disclosure of ALL forms and sources of broker compensation should be provided to purchasers of insurance."

PRIMA first took a position in 2004, stating that the "recent investigations, allegations, and admissions have renewed interest and concern regarding this longstanding compensation mechanism." In the 2004 statement, PRIMA said it expected and hoped investigations would confirm that "the illegal practice of bid-rigging is uncommon in the industry and limited to a very few individuals within the industry who stepped outside the bounds of acceptable ethical behavior."

PRIMA said transparency in broker compensation is important for the following reasons:

o The disclosure of broker compensation that is concurrent with the release of insurance program information is fiscally responsible; therefore, all costs associated with an insurance purchase are captured as a cost to the program whenever the policy is bound.

o Complete transparency is the only way to maintain trust in the purchasing process. Public sector employees are subject to intense public scrutiny and are charged with the public trust.

It added that the conduct of risk managers and other public employees and officials "must always be professional and above-board. This means that the transactions they are involved with must be done in good faith and with complete integrity. The divulging of potential conflicts of interest gives support to transparency and promotes open communications between the engaged parties."

PRIMA said it supports efforts that encourage and enforce full disclosure of insurance commissions or "other payment relationships that could either affect the placement of insurance coverage or have the appearance of such an impact."

PRIMA said it will "continue to advocate for open dialogue on this matter."

In the wake of the 2005 broker scandals, some major firms agreed to drop contingent commissions. Many others did not, but said they were adopting increased transparency standards.