Wednesday, April 13, 2005

AIG Boss Gave Wife $2bn in Shares

BBC

The ex-boss of US insurance giant AIG, Maurice Greenberg, gave his wife more than $2bn (£1.2bn) of his shares in the company days before stepping down.

The stock transfer was recorded in a document filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).


The US regulator is investigating alleged fraud in a suspect deal between American International Group and reinsurance firm General Re.

Mr Greenberg quit as chief executive of AIG in the wake of the scandal.

The transfer of company stock to Mr Greenberg's wife Corinne "represents a gift of 41.399 million shares", according to the document filed with the SEC by AIG.

AIG's stock closed at $53.20 on Tuesday, valuing the gift at $2.2bn.
Mr Greenberg retained 1.95 million shares after the transfer on 11 March, according to the document. He stepped down from AIG on 14 March, after almost 38 years at the helm.

News of the stock gift came after Mr Greenberg, 79, appeared before regulators investigating fraud claims at AIG.


He chose not to answer questions from both the SEC and New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer during a 45 minute meeting, on Tuesday.
AIG is accused of improperly recording a deal with General Re, in 2000, to falsely boost its accounts.

General Re, a unit of billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway holding company, is not under investigation.

However, Mr Buffett was interviewed as a witness by Mr Spitzer and the SEC on Monday.
Last month, AIG admitted for the first time that it had discovered improper documentation connected to the transaction.

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