Who Is AIG...?

American International Group of scamsters, Inc.

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) (NYSE: AIG) is a major American insurance corporation based at the American International Building in New York City. The British headquarters are located on Fenchurch Street in London, continental Europe operations are based in La Défense, Paris, and its Asian HQ is in Hong Kong.

According to the 2008 Forbes Global 2000 list, AIG was the 18th-largest public company in the world. It was on the Dow Jones Industrial Average from April 8, 2004 to September 22, 2008.

It suffered from a liquidity crisis after its credit ratings were downgraded below "AA" levels, and the Federal Reserve Bank on September 16, 2008, created an $85 billion credit facility to enable the company to meet collateral and other cash obligations, at the cost to AIG of the issuance of a stock warrant to the Federal Reserve Bank for 79.9% of the equity of AIG.

In November 2008 the U.S. government revised its loan package to the company, increasing the total amount to $152 billion. AIG is attempting to sell assets to repay the loans. So far the U.S. government has given the company over $170 billion.


AIG's history dates back to 1919, when Cornelius Vander Starr established an insurance agency in Shanghai, China. Starr was the first Westerner in Shanghai to sell insurance to the Chinese. Right after the Chinese Civil War which put Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party in power, AIG moved out of China and into New York City. After his business became successful in Asia, he expanded to other markets, including Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

In the mid-2000s AIG became embroiled in a series of fraud investigations conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, U.S. Justice Department, and New York State Attorney General's Office. Greenberg was ousted amid an accounting scandal in February 2005. The New York Attorney General's investigation led to a $1.6 billion fine for AIG and criminal charges for some of its executives.

On September 16, 2008, AIG suffered a liquidity crisis following the downgrade of its credit rating. Industry practice permits firms with high credit ratings to enter swaps with limited margin. When its credit rating was downgraded, the company was required to post collateral with its trading counter-parties, and this led to a liquidity crisis. The London unit of the world's largest insurer (by assets) sold credit protection Credit default swaps (CDS) on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that had declined in value.

On October 9, 2008, the company borrowed an additional $37.8 billion via a second secured asset credit facility created by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. From mid September till early November, AIG's credit-default spreads were steadily rising, implying the company was heading for default.

On November 10, 2008, the U.S. Treasury announced it would purchase $40 billion in newly issued AIG senior preferred stock, under the authority of the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act's Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Federal officials said the $40 billion investment would ultimately permit the government to reduce the total exposure to AIG to $112 billion from $152 billion.

The following week (of September bailout), AIG executives participated in a lavish California retreat which cost $444,000 and featured spa treatments, banquets, and golf outings.

AP reported on October 17 that AIG executives spent $86,000 on a luxurious English hunting trip.

An October 30, 2008 article from CNBC reported that AIG had already drawn upon $90 billion of the $123 billion allocated for loans.

On November 10, 2008, just a few days before renegotiating another bailout with the US Government for $40 billion, ABC News reported that AIG spent $343,000 on a trip to a lavish resort in Phoenix, Arizona.

Following widespread criticism of AIG’s decision to pay $165 million in bonuses from taxpayer bailout funds to employees of its particularly troubled financial products unit, as part of a larger total payout reportedly valued at $450 million, on March 16, 2009 U.S. President Barack Obama expressed outrage and said he had asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to pursue all legal avenues to block them.

Business

In the United States, AIG is the largest underwriter of commercial and industrial insurance, and AIG American General is a top-ranked life insurer.

Auto insurance

AIG sold auto insurance policies through its subsidiary unit, AIG Direct (aka aigdirect.com). The policies they offered included insurance for private automobiles, motorcycles, recreational vehicles and commercial vehicles.
AIG purchased the remaining 39% that it did not own of online auto insurance specialist 21st Century Insurance in 2007 for $749 million. With the failure of the parent company and the continuing recession in late 2008, AIG rebranded its insurance unit to 21st Century Insurance.

International holdings

Australia

AIG Life (Australia) underwrites over one million life insurance policies in Australia held through industry pension plans. The general insurance arm offers mainly corporate insurance and is among the top 10 insurers in Australia.

Pakistan

Principal office is in Karachi and branch offices are in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad and Sialkot. Selling automobile insurance in Pakistan since 1949.

China

AIG owns 19.8% of People's Insurance Company of China (PICC) through direct and indirect holdings. PICC P&C[clarification needed] is China's largest insurer of casualty insurance.

AIG owns a controlling share pack of Beijing PanAm International Aviation Academy or BPIAA. BPIAA was established in 2004 as the largest privately-owned flight training academy in China. Its bases located in Wuhai, Bautou, Shijajuan and Handan. In 2008, following the global crisis and economic recession, BPIAA has stopped it's operation awaiting company re-purchase from other, more capable investors.

Hong Kong

AIG's American International Assurance operations include 2.2 million policy holders.

India

AIG is the minority partner with the Tata Group in two insurance companies in India, holding 26 percent each in Tata AIG Life Insurance Co Ltd and Tata AIG General Insurance Co Ltd.

Philippines

AIG owns Philippine American Life and General Insurance Company (Philamlife), the Philippines' biggest insurance company. It has a total asset of P170 billion ($3.6 billion). Philamlife serves over a million customers and maintains the widest network of over 200 offices and sales agencies nationwide.

Philamlife, on October 3, 2008, announced it is among the assets being sold by AIG to pay off debt to the U.S. government: "it had been identified for possible divestment along with some of its affiliates." AIG identified Philamlife as one of "extremely valuable" assets intended for sale. Philamlife president and CEO Jose Cuisia Jr. said in a statement: "Philamlife remains to be (a) stable and strongly capitalized organization. Our policy owners and clients can be assured that their interests are protected because of the company's financial strength. A change of ownership will not in anyway diminish policy owners' benefits and security. We will remain focused on daily execution of our business and continue to provide our policy owners and clients with the highest levels of service. Philamlife, the largest and most profitable insurance company in the country and the undisputed market leader for over 60 years, is a crown jewel for AIG and will surely attract local and international interest." Cuisia said groups expressed interest to buy Philamlife, including the Yuchengco family which owns Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation. Another possible contender is the formidable Ayala Corporation that owns Bank of the Philippine Islands, Globe Telecom, and Ayala Land among others. Philamlife has total assets of 170 billion pesos ($3.6 billion), also has interests in banking, asset management and outsourcing. But contrary to the report, Philamlife doesn't have any interest on AIG BPSI, an AIG owned outsourcing company based in the Philippines, that services other subsidiary companies of AIG like American General and others.

Singapore

AIA Singapore is a wholly owned subsidiary of AIG in Singapore. It has more than two million policies in force, more than 3,800 financial services consultants and 800 employees in its Singapore offices. General manager Mark O'Dell resigned on September 18, 2008 in response to policy holders queuing up to cash in their policies in the face of concern of the future of AIG.

United Kingdom

AIG operates in the UK with the brands AIG UK, AIG Life and AIG Direct. It has about 3,000 employees, and sponsored the Manchester United football club, paying them the largest amount by a sponsor in history.
In response to redemption demands, AIG Life (UK) suspended redemptions of its AIG Premier Bond money market fund on September 19, 2008 in order to provide an orderly withdrawal of assets.

Indonesia

There are three companies under AIG brands in Indonesia: AIG LIFE; AIA, which sells life insurance; and AIU, which sells general insurance. AIG LIFE currently is voted the best insurance company in Indonesia by the Bisnis Indonesia newspaper. In Indonesia, various major banks, both international and local, are part of their distribution channel, such as ABN AMRO (now RBS bank), Bank Central Asia (one of the biggest banks in Indonesia), and Commonwealth Bank.

Insurance holdings by state

California

AIG owns more than two dozen companies licensed to offer insurance in California, according to the California Insurance Commissioner. They include 21st Century Casualty Co.; 21st Century Insurance Co.; AIG Casualty Co.; AIG Centennial Insurance Co.; AIG Premier Insurance Co.; AIU Insurance Co.; American General Indemnity Co.; American Home Assurance Co.; American International Insurance Co. of California Inc.; Birmingham Fire Insurance Co. of Pennsylvania; Commerce And Industry Insurance Co.; GE Auto & Home Assurance Co.; GE Indemnity Insurance Co.; Granite State Insurance Co.; Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Co.; Insurance Co. of the State of Pennsylvania; Landmark Insurance Co.; National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, Pa; New Hampshire Insurance Co.; Pacific Assurance; Putnam Reinsurance Co.; Transatlantic Reinsurance Co.; United Guaranty Commercial Insurance Co. of North Carolina; United Guaranty Credit Insurance Co.; United Guaranty Residential Insurance Co.; and Yosemite Insurance Co.

Pennsylvania

Twenty AIG subsidiaries are licensed to do business in Pennsylvania, including National Union Fire Insurance Co. in Pittsburgh, believed to be the second largest AIG underwriter in the nation. Other subsidiaries include New Hampshire Insurance, Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania, Granite State Insurance and New Hampshire Indemnity.

West Virginia

AIG writes property and casualty insurance, life and annuity, and workers' compensation insurance in West Virginia. It has 4.7% of the life insurance market and 2.7% of the property and casualty market, as of the end of 2007.

Holdings

Mortgage lending
Since 2001 AIG has owned American General Finance Inc., an Evansville, Indiana firm with $29 billion of mortgage backed assets and more than 1,500 branches nationwide.

Aerospace

AIG Tower in Hong Kong

AIG owns International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC) , the world's largest aircraft leasing company, with hundreds of aircraft including the full range of Boeing and Airbus jetliners, as well as the McDonnell Douglas MD-11 and MD-80 Series. Total assets under lease are $55 billion as of June 30, 2008. Estimates of its value range from $5 billion to $14 billion based on a comparison with rivals.

AIG was one of the owners of London City Airport, along with GE and Credit Suisse. The airport was purchased for £750m in 2006 and AIG reportedly sold its 50% stake for an undisclosed sum on September 30, 2008.

Real estate

AIG/Lincoln was established in 1997 as a strategic partnership between AIG Global Real Estate Investment Corporation, New York, a subsidiary of AIG - American International Group, New York, and Lincoln Property Company, a Dallas based commercial real estate manager.[77].[78]. It has developed or is currently developing over 2.2 million square meters of real estate in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Austria and Russia.

Telecommunications

As of August 2007, AIG Investments (through its member company AIG Capital Partners, Inc.) acquired a 90% stake in Bulgarian Telecommunications Company (BTC) from Viva Ventures Holding GmbH and certain minority shareholders. At the time, the estimated value of BTC was 1.7 billion euros ($2.3 billion).

Ports

As of March 16, 2007, AIG Investments, a division of AIG, completed the purchase of 100% of the stock of P&O Ports North America from Dubai-based Dubai Ports World. At the time, the estimated price was $700m, though AIG did not disclose the exact figure because the number was too low to be deemed significant to the company's asset base.

On July 2, 2007, Marine Terminals Corporation became part of the AIG Global Investment Group through its acquisition by AIG Highstar Capital. MTC provides the shipping community with a comprehensive network of stevedoring, terminal operating and related cargo handling services. Terms were not disclosed.

Skiing

AIG owns Stowe Mountain Resort which is AIG's only ski business.
AIG's connection to Stowe started when C.V. Starr, the company's founder, invested in the resort in 1946. A $300m, 10 year expansion was started in 2005.

Other holdings

AIG owns Ocean Finance, a British provider of home owner loans, mortgages and remortgages.

AIG is the principal sponsor of English football team Manchester United and the Japan Open Tennis Championships.

Subsidiary Holdings

• AIG American General Life Companies
• AIG Annuity Insurance Company
• AIG UK Limited
• AIG Financial Products Corp.
• AIG Hawaii Insurance Company, Inc.
• AIG Investments
o Utilities, Inc.
• AIG Retirement Services, Inc.
o AIG SunAmerica Life Assurance Company
o The Variable Annuity Life Insurance Company
• American General Finance Corporation
• American Life Insurance Company
• Brazos Capital Management, L.P., a mutual fund manager
• HSB Group, Inc., a specialty insurance company
• International Lease Finance Corporation
• Lexington Insurance Company
• SunAmerica Ventures, Inc.
o AIG Financial Advisors
• Transatlantic Holdings, Inc.
o Transatlantic Re (Brasil) Ltda.
o Transatlantic Reinsurance Company (NYSE: TRH), 58% owned by AIG
• United Guaranty Corporation

On October 14, 2004 the New York State Office of Attorney General Eliot Spitzer announced that it had commenced a civil action against Marsh & McLennan Companies for steering clients to preferred insurers with whom the company maintained lucrative payoff agreements, and for soliciting rigged bids for insurance contracts from the insurers.

The Attorney General announced in a release that two AIG executives pleaded guilty to criminal charges in connection with this illegal course of conduct. In early May 2005, AIG restated its financial position and issued a reduction in book value of USD $2.7 billion, a 3.3 percent reduction in net worth.

On February 9, 2006, AIG and the New York State Attorney General's office agreed to a settlement in which AIG would pay a fine of $1.6 billion.

There is an ongoing fraud investigation that has been launched by the FBI after the collapse in stock price.

Corporate governance

Board of directors

• Edward M. Liddy – Chairman of the Board of Directors and Chief Executive Officer, American International Group
• Stephen F. Bollenback – Former Co-Chairman and CEO, Hilton Hotels Corporation
• Martin S. Feldstein – Professor of Economics, Harvard University
• George L. Miles – President and Chief Executive Officer, WQED Multimedia
• Morris W. Offit – Chairman, Offit Capital Advisors LLC
• Michael H. Sutton – Consultant
• Fred H. Langhammer – Chairman, Global Affairs, and former CEO of The Estee Lauder Companies, Inc.
• Virginia M. Rometty – Senior Vice President, Global Business Services, IBM Corporation
• James F. Orr, III – Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Rockefeller Foundation
• Edmund S.W. Tse – Senior Vice Chairman, Life Insurance, American International Group
• Suzanne Nora Johnson

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Even more impressive than the inauguration itself, President Obama delivered a speech to Congress that had everyone standing, applauding and honest feeling hopeful and glad to be an American. CNN and the Situation Room have vowed to give us the closest look into the Presidents first 100 days and promise to “keep them honest.” But who is keeping the media honest?

It’s so obvious now who and what each media outlet represents and support. Immediately following the world wide broadcast address, the main focus during the media wrap up was sheer of doubt for the President and the economy. As with the Republican response, more time was spent on the negative aspects of the speech rather than the impact it left on the ones who matter the most, We The People.

President Obama have many fans and foes for his plan and he plans to face the responsibility of the plan, contrary to what other media sources, experts and officials may say. People are dissecting his speeches and looking for answers in one speech, that’s impossible. The president is trying to rebuild and command this country into recovery but the only possible way for this to happen is to “invest.” The top priority falls on education, energy and healthcare.

If people really wanted answers through the media, they need to go to the President’s Cabinet to address details and get all their answers. Besides, that’s what they were appointed for. It’s not President Obama’s obligation to do their job and his, some people just will never be happy no matter how many speeches or plans he make. When we overcome this slump in our economy the same haters will find something else to complain about and continue to convince people that President Obama is not the right man for the job.


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Las Vegas is in rage over President Obama’s suggestion to bypass the luxury trips and conventions to Vegas to cut back. Vegas is outraged because without tourism, the casinos wont cash in on loosers, not they have to relax their codes to allow everybody to enjoy their venues because Now...All Money Is Good Money! My suggestions to Las Vegas: try making the tourism experience, strip and casinos friendlier to kids and families and tourism will be fine.

Obama releases secret Bush anti-terror memos

The Obama administration threw open the curtain on years of Bush-era secrets Monday, revealing anti-terror memos that claimed exceptional search-and-seizure powers and divulging that the CIA destroyed nearly 100 videotapes of interrogations and other treatment of terror suspects.

The Justice Department released nine legal opinions showing that, following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Bush administration determined that certain constitutional rights would not apply during the coming fight. Within two weeks, government lawyers were already discussing ways to wiretap U.S. conversations without warrants.

The Bush administration eventually abandoned many of the legal conclusions, but the documents themselves had been closely held. By releasing them, President Barack Obama continued a house-cleaning of the previous administration's most contentious policies.

"Too often over the past decade, the fight against terrorism has been viewed as a zero-sum battle with our civil liberties," Attorney General Eric Holder said in a speech a few hours before the documents were released. "Not only is that school of thought misguided, I fear that in actuality it does more harm than good."

The Obama administration also acknowledged in court documents Monday that the CIA destroyed 92 videos involving terror suspects, including interrogations — far more than had been known. Congressional Democrats and other critics have charged that some of the harsh interrogation techniques amounted to torture, a contention President George W. Bush and other Bush officials rejected.

The new administration pledged on Monday to begin turning over documents related to the videos to a federal judge and to make as much information public as possible.
The legal memos written by the Bush administration's Office of Legal Counsel show a government grappling with how to wage war on terrorism in a fast-changing world. The conclusion, reiterated in page after page of documents, was that the president had broad authority to set aside constitutional rights.

Fourth Amendment protections against unwarranted search and seizure, for instance, did not apply in the United States as long as the president was combatting terrorism, the Justice Department said in an Oct. 23, 2001, memo.

"First Amendment speech and press rights may also be subordinated to the overriding need to wage war successfully," Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Yoo wrote, adding later: "The current campaign against terrorism may require even broader exercises of federal power domestically."

On Sept. 25, 2001, Yoo discussed possible changes to the laws governing wiretaps for intelligence gathering. In that memo, he said the government's interest in keeping the nation safe following the terrorist attacks might justify warrantless searches.
That memo did not specifically attempt to justify the government's warrantless wiretapping program, but it provided part of the foundation.

Yoo, now a professor at the University of California at Berkeley School of Law, did not return messages seeking comment.

The memos reflected a belief within the Bush administration that the president had broad powers that could not be checked by Congress or the courts. That stance, in one form or another, became the foundation for many policies: holding detainees at Guantanamo Bay, eavesdropping on U.S. citizens without warrants, using tough new CIA interrogation tactics and locking U.S. citizens in military brigs without charges.
Obama has pledged to close the Guantanamo Bay prison within a year. He halted the CIA's intensive interrogation program. And last week, prosecutors moved the terrorism case against U.S. resident Ali Al-Marri, a suspected al-Qaida sleeper agent held in a military brig, to a civilian courthouse.

A criminal prosecutor is wrapping up an investigation of the destruction of the tapes of interrogations.

Monday's acknowledgment of videotape destruction, however, involved a civil lawsuit filed in New York by the American Civil Liberties Union.

"The CIA can now identify the number of videotapes that were destroyed," said the letter submitted in that case by Acting U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin. "Ninety-two videotapes were destroyed."

It is not clear what exactly was on the recordings. The government's letter cites interrogation videos, but the lawsuit against the Defense Department also seeks records related to treatment of detainees, any deaths of detainees and the CIA's sending of suspects overseas, known as "extraordinary rendition."
At the White House, press secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters he hadn't spoken to the president about the report, but he called the news about the videotapes "sad" and said Obama was committed to ending torture while also protecting American values.

ACLU attorney Amrit Singh said the CIA should be held in contempt of court for holding back the information for so long.

"The large number of videotapes destroyed confirms that the agency engaged in a systematic attempt to hide evidence of its illegal interrogations and to evade the court's order," Singh said.

CIA spokesman George Little said the agency "has certainly cooperated with the Department of Justice investigation. If anyone thinks it's agency policy to impede the enforcement of American law, they simply don't know the facts."

The details of interrogations of terror suspects, and the existence of tapes documenting those sessions, have become the subject of long fights in a number of different court cases. In the trial of Sept. 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui, prosecutors initially claimed no such recordings existed, then acknowledged after the trial was over that two videotapes and one audiotape had been made.

The Dassin letter, dated March 2 to Judge Alvin Hellerstein, says the CIA is now gathering more details for the lawsuit, including a list of the destroyed records, any secondary accounts that describe the destroyed contents and the identities of those who may have viewed or possessed the recordings before they were destroyed.
But the lawyers also note that some of that information may be classified, such as the names of CIA personnel who viewed the tapes.

The separate criminal investigation includes interrogations of al-Qaida lieutenant Abu Zubaydah and another top al-Qaida leader. Tapes of those interrogations were destroyed, in part, the Bush administration said, to protect the identities of the government questioners at a time the Justice Department was debating whether or not the tactics used during the interrogations were legal.

Former CIA director Michael Hayden acknowledged that waterboarding — simulated drowning — was used on three suspects, including the two whose interrogations were recorded.

John Durham, a senior career prosecutor in Connecticut, is leading the criminal investigation, out of Virginia, and had asked that he be given until the end of February to wrap up his work before requests for information in the civil lawsuit were dealt with.

___
Associated Press Writers Pamela Hess and Philip Elliott contributed to this report.