Perhaps they need geckos or cavemen? AIG in trouble....

[marmar]

from Bloomberg:



AIG May Announce Its Turnaround Plan Before Sept. 25 (Update2)

By Hugh Son and Shannon D. Harrington

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc., the largest U.S. insurer, may accelerate plans to raise capital or sell assets after the shares plunged 42 percent this week, said a person familiar with the company.

Chief Executive Officer Robert Willumstad may announce the turnaround plan before his Sept. 25 deadline said the person, who declined to be named because the New York-based insurer hasn't made an official statement. AIG may be able to raise $20 billion selling assets including its consumer finance, reinsurance and plane-leasing units, according to analysts at Citigroup Inc.

AIG shares slumped and the cost of insuring its debt rose to a record today on concern that the company may be the next big U.S. financial firm after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to run short of capital. AIG spokesman Joe Norton declined to comment on the reorganization plans.

``It's a carbon-copy story for a lot of these guys that need capital,'' said Robert Bolton, managing director for trading at Mendon Capital Advisors Corp. in Rochester, New York. ``It's unprecedented that two storied franchises, Bear Stearns and Lehman, have taken on the type of water they have, and now there are fears about another titan, AIG.''

AIG dropped $4.61, or 26 percent, to $12.94 at 3:29 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The price of credit- default swaps, used as hedges against losses on bad debt, approached distressed levels and traded higher than those for Lehman, the securities firm that's fighting for survival. .......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a3PvUvU2pFaQ&refer=home

[Hestia]

1. I've been wracking my brain trying to remember the story of AIG, drug

money and the Bahamas. Does anyone else remember it? I cancelled my policy with AIG as soon as I read it. It's a deplorable story.