Transparency Alert... "Marsh & McLennan ... will no longer accept commissions of any kind from the insurers to whom the company steers business from corporate clients. ... Instead, it will charge fees to its corporate clients to place their insurance business."

"Under this model, Marsh wouldn't accept payments from both sides of the transaction. ... Marsh also committed to provide upfront full disclosure to clients of exactly how much of a fee it will earn on their business. In the past, disclosures have been murky and incomplete." (Wall Street Journal, Oct 26, 2004)

Wow, that's a different business model! And it's the direct result of civil charges filed by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer charging that "the company cheated corporate clients by rigging bids and collecting huge fees from major companies for throwing business their way."

Will this have any impact on the real estate business? It seems like a natural question to ask about an industry where commissions are frequently paid by sellers and lessors to brokers representing buyers and lessees. What do you think? What are the similarities? What are the differences?

GSA Update... According to CoStar News (GSA Awards National Broker Contract, Oct 5, 2004), GSA's Public Buildings Service (PBS) awarded a national broker contract to Jones Lang LaSalle, Studley, Staubach and Trammell Crow. After this announcement, apparently GSA received a protest and, as a result, is not currently releasing further information about the process to the public. So stay tuned; I'll write when I know more.

--Peter Pike