Conn. Review Of Insurers' Deal Faces Scrutiny -- WSJ
June 17 2016 - 3:04AM
Dow Jones News
By Joseph De Avila
A Connecticut ethics board voted Thursday to open an inquiry on
whether the state's insurance commissioner should recuse herself
from leading a review of the proposed merger between Anthem Inc.
and Cigna Corp.
Commissioner Katharine Wade was a vice president at Cigna, based
in Bloomfield, Conn., until 2013, and her husband works for the
company as associate chief counsel.
Common Cause Connecticut, a government watchdog group, asked the
state's Citizen's Ethics Advisory Board Monday to rule on whether
Ms. Wade has a conflict of interest because she is now leading the
multistate review of the proposed tie-up of the two insurance
companies.
Common Cause Connecticut said it "questions the ability of Ms.
Wade to conduct a review of the merger of Anthem and Cigna in an
unbiased way." Anthem notified Connecticut of its intent to acquire
Cigna in September.
Some of the state's top Republicans and the Democratic speaker
of the House have asked Ms Wade to recuse herself, though
Democratic Gov. Dannel Malloy, who appointed Ms. Wade in 2015, has
said she could conduct a fair review
The state Department of Insurance is coordinating a 27-state
review of the merger because Cigna is based in Connecticut. Ms.
Wade has said she has no conflict in leading the review.
"The commissioner has sought [the Office of State Ethics']
guidance throughout the process," a spokeswoman for the insurance
department said. "Should that guidance change, she will follow that
instead."
A spokesman for Mr. Malloy said his administration would abide
by whatever guidance the ethics board issues.
Ms. Wade, who earns $160,000 a year as insurance commissioner,
sent the Office of State Ethics a letter in September stating no
conflict would be posed by her previous employment at Cigna and her
husband's current position with the company. She and her counsel
later met with staff from the Office of State Ethics, said Carol
Carson, the office's executive director.
he commissioner didn't have a conflict because he placed most of
his stock options from the company in a blind trust, and he agreed
to postpone vesting rights for other stock options. He took part in
the hearing.
Ms. Wade stated in her September letter to the Office of State
Ethics that she and her husband had put their assets into a blind
trust and that her husband's unvested Cigna stock would also go
into the blind trust when it is vested.
The ethics board typically has 30 days to reach a decision, but
it could choose a later date, Ms. Carson said. Its rulings are
legally binding but appealable in state court.
Write to Joseph De Avila at joseph.deavila@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
June 17, 2016 02:49 ET (06:49 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Cigna (NYSE:CI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Cigna (NYSE:CI)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024