Marsh in the US will wrap up its internal business practices inquiry by early January and has now set aside more than $232 million to settle bid-rigging claims.

The inquiry found the Marsh global placement business had a “small pocket” of people behaving inappropriately.

New Marsh CEO Michael Cherkasky says there were a few other spots where inappropriate behaviour was detected in the way placements were made.

A review of the company’s UK unit found no evidence of bid-rigging.

Marsh expects to settle with New York Attorney-General Eliot Spitzer this month but has also been contacted by 25 other regulators and potentially faces many lawsuits.

Meanwhile the company will refund $1.2 million to several Oregon school district clients after overcharging them for insurance placements for several years. Marsh’s Portland office will pay refunds to six school districts and one community college after discovering it had charged commissions in addition to the flat fees called for in its contracts with the districts.

The discovery of the overcharging is unrelated to Mr Spitzer’s investigation.