International Loan Agreement

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 company in the world. It was on the Dow Jones Industrial Average from April 8, 2004 to September 22, 2008.

On September 16, 2008, AIG suffered a liquidity crisis following the downgrade of its credit rating. The London unit of the world's largest insurer by assets sold credit protection Credit default swap (CDS) on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) that declined in value. The United States Federal Reserve loaned money to AIG at AIG's request, to prevent the company's collapse, in order for AIG to meet its obligations to post additional collateral to trading partners. The Federal Reserve announced the creation of a credit facility of up to US$85 billion in exchange for warrants for a 79.9% equity stake and the right to suspend dividends to previously issued common and preferred stock. AIG announced the same day that its board accepted the terms of the Federal Reserve Bank's rescue package. This was the largest government bailout of a private company in U.S. history, though smaller than the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac a week earlier.

On October 9, 2008, the company borrowed an additional $37.8 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

History

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. After his business became successful in Asia, he expanded to other markets, including Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East. In 1962, Starr gave management of the company's less than successful U.S. holdings to Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg, who shifted the company's U.S. focus from personal insurance to high-margin corporate coverage. Greenberg focused on selling insurance through independent brokers rather than agents to avoid selling insurance at prices which occasionally became too low (to cover the future payouts) given marketplace competition. A company with agents must pay their salaries even while selling little to no insurance. Instead, with brokers, AIG could price insurance properly even if it suffered decreased sales of certain products for great lengths of time with very little extra expense. In 1968, Starr named Greenberg his successor. The company went public in 1969.

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. Greenberg was succeeded as CEO by Martin J. Sullivan, who had begun his career at AIG as a clerk in its London office in 1970.

On June 15, 2008, under intense pressure due to financial losses and a falling stock price, Martin Sullivan resigned from the CEO position. He was replaced by Robert B. Willumstad, who had served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company since 2006. Willumstad was forced to step down and was replaced by Edward M. Liddy on September 17, 2008.

Financial crisis

September 2008 concerns about stability

AIG's share prices fell over 95% to just $1.25 on September 16, 2008, from a 52-week high of $70.13. The company reported over $13.2 billion in losses in the first six months of the year.. AIG's Financial Product division headed by Joseph Cassano had entered into credit default swaps to insure $441 billion worth of securities originally rated AAA. Of those securities, $57.8 billion were structured debt securities backed by subprime loans. CNN named Cassano as one of the "Ten Most Wanted: Culprits" of the 2008 financial collapse in the United States.

As Lehman Brothers (the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history) suffered a major decline in share price, investors began comparing the types of securities held by AIG and Lehman, and found that AIG had valued its Alt-A and sub-prime mortgage-backed securities at 1.7 to 2 times the rates used by Lehman. On September 14, 2008, AIG announced it was considering selling its aircraft leasing division, International Lease Finance Corporation, in an effort to raise necessary capital for the company. The Federal Reserve has hired Morgan Stanley to determine if there are systemic risks to a failing AIG, and has asked private entities to supply short-term bridge loans to the company. In the meantime, New York regulators have approved AIG for $20 billion in borrowing from its subsidiaries.

On September 16, AIG's stock dropped 60 percent at the market's opening. The Federal Reserve continued to meet that day with major Wall Street investment firms to broker a deal to create a $75 billion line of credit to the company. Rating agencies Moody's and Standard and Poor's downgraded their credit ratings on AIG's credit on concerns over continuing losses on mortgage-backed securities, forcing the company to deliver collateral of over $10 billion to certain creditors. The New York Times later reported that talks on Wall Street had broken down and AIG may file for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, September 17. Just before the bailout by the US Federal Reserve, AIG former CEO Maurice (Hank) Greenberg sent an impassioned letter to AIG CEO Robert B. Willumstad offering his assistance in any way possible, ccing the Board of Directors. His offer was rebuked.

Federal Reserve bailout

On the evening of September 16, 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank's Board of Governors announced that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York had been authorized to create a 24-month credit-liquidity facility from which AIG may draw up to $85 billion. The loan is collateralized by the assets of AIG, including its non-regulated subsidiaries and the stock of "substantially all" its regulated subsidiaries, and has an interest rate of 850 basis points over the three-month London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) (i.e., LIBOR plus 8.5%). In exchange for the credit facility, the U.S. government will receive warrants for a 79.9 percent equity stake in AIG, and has the right to suspend the payment of dividends to AIG common and preferred shareholders. The credit facility was created under the auspices of Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act. AIG's board of directors announced approval of the loan transaction in a press release the same day. The announcement did not comment on the issuance of a warrant for 79.9% of AIG's equity, but the AIG 8-K filing of September 18, 2008, reporting the transaction to the Securities and Exchange Commission stated that a warrant for 79.9% of AIG shares had been issued to the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve. AIG drew down US$ 28 billion of the credit-liquidity facility on September 17, 2008. On September 22, 2008, AIG was officially removed from the Dow Jones Industrial Average. An additional $37.8 billion loan was extended in October. As of October 24, AIG has drawn a total of $90.3 billion from the emergency loan, of a total $122.8 billion.

Maurice Greenberg, former CEO of AIG, has characterized the bailout as a nationalization of AIG.

Lavish spending immediately after bailout

The following week, AIG executives participated in a lavish California retreat which cost $444,000 and featured spa treatments, banquets, and golf outings. It was reported that the trip was a reward for top-performing life-insurance agents planned before the bailout. Less than 24 hours after the news of the party was first reported by the media, it was reported that the Federal Reserve had agreed to give AIG an additional loan of up to $37.8 billion.

AP reported on October 17th that AIG executives racked up an $86,000 tab for a luxurious English hunting trip. News of the lavish spending came just days after AIG received an additional $37.8 billion loan from the Federal Reserve, on top of a previous $85 billion emergency loan granted last month. Regarding the hunting trip, the company responded, "We regret that this event was not canceled,".

Settlement of credit default swaps

On October 21, 2008, those creditors of Lehman Brothers who bought credit default swaps to hedge them against Lehman bankruptcy will settle those accounts. The amount of the settlement is estimated to be between $100 billion and $400 billion.

Business

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

Insurance

Life insurance

AIG owns AIG American General, a life insurance company based in Houston, Texas.

Auto insurance

AIG sells auto insurance through AIG Direct. Policies include auto, motorcycle, recreation vehicle and commercial vehicle insur