AIG in the News

Informational articles regarding the AIG situation

Excerpts from recent stories

U.S. to Take Over AIG in $85 Billion Bailout - Wall Street Journal, 9/17/08

AIG's millions of insurance policyholders appear to be considerably less at risk. That's because of how the company is structured and regulated. Its insurance policies are issued by separate subsidiaries of AIG, highly regulated units that have assets available to pay claims. In the U.S., those assets can't be shifted out of the subsidiaries without regulatory approval, and insurance is also regulated strictly abroad.

Tuesday afternoon, after the market closed, AIG put out a statement saying its basic insurance and retirement services businesses are "fully capable of meeting their obligations to policyholders." AIG said it was trying to "increase short-term liquidity in the parent company," but said that didn't "include any effort to reduce the capital of any of its subsidiaries or to tap into Asian operations for liquidity." Asia is one of AIG's largest markets. Read the full article >>

Hold a policy? You need not panic - Columbus Dispatch, 9/18/08

Q: What is going to happen to the insurance businesses owned by AIG?
A: The infusion of $85 billion into AIG offers financial stability so the company will have time to decide which assets or business segments it should sell and to whom. It hasn't been disclosed whether the insurance segment, or portions of it, would be sold.

"We believe the insurance subsidiary to be financially sound and continues to be sound today," said analyst Joyce Sharaf of A.M. Best Co., an insurance rating company. She said yesterday that AIG holds major insurance businesses that "are enviable franchises that could be sold in whole or in part." Read the full article >>