AIG EVENT 2011 American International Group Inc. (AIG), the insurer majority owned by the U.S.

after a 2008 bailout, is hosting an event at a California facility that advertises the amenities of an ultra luxury hotel. The American General unit assembled about 65 people who distribute its products for a two-and-a-half-day stay this week at the Resort at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach, California, said Larry Mark, a spokesman for AIGs life insurance division. Nine AIG managers were also sent to the resort to make presentations, Mark said in an e-mail. He declined to say the cost of the event for the insurer. AIG resumed such conferences about two years ago, after being rebuked by lawmakers in 2008 for spending $440,000 to send about 100 advisers to the St. Regis resort in Monarch Beach, California. Chief Executive Officer Robert Benmosche is working to expand sales as he seeks private investors to replace government capital. Senator Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, in October 2008 called AIGs event that year an insult to taxpayers. 2. AG Cuomo Goes After AIG Executive Compensation and Lavish Event Expenses

During recent Congressional hearings into the financial crisis at American International Group (AIG) and the resulting $85 billion federal bailout for the financial giant, Rep. Elijah Cummings, D-Md., asked former AIG CEO Martin Sullivan whether, given the firms troubles, he was interested in forfeiting any of the considerable compensation he

received

from

AIG.

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has begun an investigation that he hopes will force AIGs board of directors to recover all past unreasonable expenditures including some compensation paid to executives and any funds spent on expensive retreats. Cuomo alleges that payment of these sums while the company was on the brink of filing for bankruptcy violates a New York law on fraudulent conveyances. Cuomo has written to AIGs board demanding that the company cease the improper and extravagant expenditures which exploit the taxpayers of this nation and institute new policies to prevent future abuses. Cuomo also criticized $34 million in bonuses paid to Joseph Cassano, president of the London operation and the person in charge of the credit default swaps that precipitated the companys near bankruptcy. Cassano was fired in February but in addition to getting the $34 million, he was awarded a $1 million a month consulting contract when he left. Sullivan came under heated questioning during the Congressional hearings when he acknowledged that his 2007 compensation was made possible despite the losses at AIGFP because he recommended that those AIGFP losses be excluded from consideration in calculating the bonuses for all top executives. Willumstad, the former board chairman who served as CEO from March until the government loan in mid-September, announced when he left that he would forfeit an estimated $22 million severance payment because he was unable to implement a restructuring plan he developed.

Meanwhile, AIG said it is focused on selling certain assets and taking other actions necessary to repay the Federal Reserve loan and emerge as a vital, ongoing business. 3. AIG Bonus Payments Controversy The AIG bonus payments controversy began in March 2009, when it was publicly disclosed that the American International Group (AIG) was to pay approximately $218 million in bonus payments to employees of its financial services division. AIG is notable for having received $170 billion in taxpayer bailouts and in the fourth quarter of 2008 posted a loss of $61.7 billion, the greatest ever for any corporation.[1] Beyond the $165 million in bonus payments that were recently announced, total bonuses for the financial unit could reach $450 million and bonuses for the entire company could reach $1.2 billion.[2] This quickly led to what some have labeled a "populist outrage."[3]