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BOSTON - Risk managers have become more circumspect in their interactions with brokers, consultants, underwriters and other providers since an investigation by former New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer found potential conflicts of interest in the insurance placement process.
That and other highly publicized scandals involving the financial services industry have prompted some companies to strengthen their business codes of conduct, risk managers say.
As a result, risk managers at this year's Risk & Insurance Management Society Inc. Annual Conference & Exhibition were much less likely to be wined and dined than in the past, when brokers and insurers hosted luxurious events intended to capture risk managers' business.
Some risk managers went as far as taking the subway or picking up their own dinner checks to avoid even the suggestion of questionable behavior.
"You come to RIMS and are invited to a host of things. I'm glad that they've toned it down a bit," said Sheila Small, assistant treasurer in charge of risk management and insurance at Basking Ridge, NJ.based Verizon Communications Inc.
In past years, Ms. Small said she attended meetings "where we were going to eat and what we were doing afterwards was more important than the business" being discussed. She has heard tales of risk managers not just expecting but demanding that entertainment sponsors provide autographed photos, or even a chance to be photographed with the celebrities involved.
Ms. Small said she once was offered a trip to the Masters Tournament, but she declined the offer of the marquee golf event. "We have a code of conduct. I cannot accept an offer to go somewhere when there is a clear indication that they're trying to get my business."
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