(Warren) Buffett Never Briefed on AIG Deal Details

[Up2Late]

(Because I don't see the other Stories re A.I.G. from today and yesterday, I'm going to post the others here for context)

Buffett Never Briefed on AIG Deal Details

Tue Mar 29, 2005 02:00 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett never received detailed briefings on a deal with the American International Group that is now at the center of a mushrooming investigation, his company said on Tuesday. Billionaire Buffett, who has been drawn into the insurance industry scandal, has also agreed to be interviewed by investigators looking into the controversial deal between his company's General Reinsurance Co. unit and AIG (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) .

While Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it was cooperating with the investigation, it denied what it called recent press accounts that Buffett was briefed on the "nature" and "structure" of the AIG deal in 2000-2001. "To the contrary, Mr. Buffett was not briefed on how the transactions were to be structured or on any improper use or purpose of the transactions," the statement said. The company said other staff had also voluntarily given interviews to authorities.

Berkshire Hathaway's statement came the day after AIG announced that insurance industry titan Maurice "Hank" Greenberg would step down as chairman this week amid the investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. The SEC has subpoenaed 12 executives of AIG in an expanding probe of the insurer, sources close to the case have said.

Government investigators had focused initially on the deal with General Re, but have since expanded the AIG probe to cover 10 other potentially questionable transactions and possible accounting errors valued at about $1 billion, sources have said.

© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.

[Up2Late]

1. Update: Buffett Distances Self from AIG Scandal

Tue Mar 29, 2005 05:35 PM ET

By Paul Thomasch

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and billionaire investor Warren Buffett sought to distance himself from a suspect insurance deal on Tuesday, a day after it helped drive insurance industry heavyweight Maurice Greenberg into retirement.

Berkshire Hathaway (BRKa.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said in a statement its chairman never received detailed briefings on the deal between the company's General Re unit and American International Group (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , denying recent press accounts about his role in the arrangement. "Mr. Buffett was not briefed on how the transactions were to be structured or on any improper use or purpose of the transactions," the statement said.

Even so, Buffett agreed to be interviewed by authorities investigating the deal. A regulator who declined to be named said the Buffett interview will include representatives of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office and the U.S. Department of Justice. Other staff have also voluntarily agreed to interviews, Berkshire Hathaway said. Buffett's first public comments about his role in the transaction came the day after Maurice "Hank" Greenberg announced plans to step down as AIG's chairman. In addition, AIG has recently fired three executives for failing to cooperate with authorities.

Initially, authorities focused their investigation on the deal between AIG and Berkshire Hathaway's General Re. But sources have said the AIG investigation has since expanded to cover dozens of suspect transactions and possible accounting errors valued at about $1 billion or more.

(more at link)

<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=businessNews&storyID=8028394&src=rss/businessNews>

[Up2Late]

2. AIG's Greenberg to Retire This Week

AIG's Greenberg to Retire This Week

Tue Mar 29, 2005 01:10 AM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, who turned American International Group Inc. into a global insurance powerhouse, is stepping down as chairman this week as investigations into AIG's business practices mount.

After the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission put 10 new possibly questionable transactions under scrutiny, AIG said late on Monday that former Nasdaq chairman and AIG board member Frank Zarb will assume the duties of chairman on March 30 or March 31 when Greenberg returns from a two-week trip to Asia and Europe. Greenberg, 79, took the reins of the company in 1967, transforming it from an obscure seller of life insurance overseas into a market leader with nearly $100 billion in revenue and 93,000 employees worldwide.

Greenberg, who had become the insurance industry's dean, had already stepped down as chief executive two weeks ago as AIG became the latest insurance company to face scrutiny by regulators looking into possible abusive practices. The SEC has subpoenaed 12 executives of AIG in an expanding probe of the insurer, sources close to the case said on Monday. AIG declined to discuss the substance of the investigation. The SEC also declined to comment.

Government investigators had focused initially on a deal done in 2000 involving New York-based AIG and General Re, a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., that may have artificially boosted AIG's reserves, the sources said. But the SEC probe has since expanded to cover 10 other potentially questionable transactions and possible accounting errors valued at about $1 billion, the sources said.

(more at link above)

[cosmicdot]

3. investigations by NY Atty General Eliot Spitzer

hopefully, his efforts are backdooring much of the corruption corrupting our country ...

so much going on with AIG, Maurice (chair of the Nixon Center Board http://www.nixoncenter.org/boardac.htm)Greenberg and his sons, Jeffrey and Evan, who both worked for him in the past .. Evan, was groomed for Daddy's job, but left to become CEO of another insurer, 'off-shore', Bermuda-based, ACE Tempest Re, in 2002 ... "Jeffrey ... was forced to resign last October as Chairman and Chief Executive of the world’s top insurance brokerage Marsh & McLennan, following an investigation into bid rigging and bribery by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer. Marsh & McLennan in a settlement agreed to pay $850 million in restitution"
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Maurice+Greenberg%27s+sons

for curiosity, google AIG and the WTC
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=AIG+and+the+world+trade+center


AIG Board of Directors and their 'other' connections
`````````````````````````````````````````````````````

M. BERNARD AIDINOFF

Director since 1984

Retired Partner, Sullivan & Cromwell
(Attorneys)

Age 75

Director, First SunAmerica Life Insurance
Company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIG


PEI-YUAN CHIA

Director since 1996

Retired Vice Chairman, Citicorp
and Citibank, N.A.

Age 65

Director, Baxter International Inc.


MARSHALL A. COHEN

Director since 1992

Counsel, Cassels Brock & Blackwell (Barristers and Solicitors); Former President and Chief Executive Officer, The Molson Companies Limited

Age 69

Director, Barrick Gold Corporation
Collins & Aikman Corporation
Lafarge North America Inc.
Metaldyne Corporation
Premcor Inc.
Toronto Dominion Bank


WILLIAM S. COHEN

Elected February 2, 2004

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, The Cohen Group; Former United States Secretary of Defense; Former United States Senator

(The Cohen Group provides business consulting services and advice in international markets)

Age 63

Director, The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.
Viacom, Inc.

(he's, also, advisor to Barrick Gold)


MARTIN S. FELDSTEIN

Director since 1987

Professor of Economics, Harvard University; President and Chief Executive Officer, National Bureau of Economic Research
(Nonprofit Economic Research Center)

Age 64

Director, Eli Lilly and Company HCA Inc. (HCA - that's the Frist family business)


ELLEN V. FUTTER

Director since 1999

President, American Museum of Natural History

Age 54

Director, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company
Consolidated Edison, Inc. (also serves
as Trustee of Consolidated Edison
Company of New York, Inc.) J.P.
Morgan Chase & Co.


MAURICE R. GREENBERG

Director since 1967

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, AIG

Age 78

Director, Transatlantic Holdings, Inc.
(“Transatlantic”), which is owned 59
percent by AIG

Also serves as Chairman of Transatlantic, a director, President and Chief Executive Officer of C.V. Starr & Co., Inc. (“Starr”), and a director of Starr International Company, Inc. (“SICO”) and International Lease Finance Corporation (“ILFC”); Starr and SICO are private holding companies (see “Ownership of Certain Securities”); ILFC is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AIG


CARLA A. HILLS (US Trade Rep under Poppy Bu$h)

Director since 1993

Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Hills & Company; Former United States Trade Representative

(Hills & Company provides international investment, trade and risk advisory services)

Age 70

Director, Time Warner Inc. ChevronTexaco
Corporation Lucent Technologies Inc.


FRANK J. HOENEMEYER

Director since 1985

Financial Consultant;
Retired Vice Chairman,
Prudential Insurance Company of America

Age 84

Director, Carey Fiduciary Advisors, Inc.
Cincinnati, Inc.


RICHARD C. HOLBROOKE

Director since 2001

Vice Chairman, Perseus LLC; Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations; Former Vice Chairman, Credit Suisse First Boston

Age 62

Director, Human Genome Sciences, Inc.
Quebecor World Inc.


DONALD P. KANAK

Vice Chairman and Co-Chief Operating Officer, AIG

Age 51

Also serves as a director of Starr and SICO


HOWARD I. SMITH

Director since 1997

Vice Chairman, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief Financial Officer, AIG

Age 59

Director, Transatlantic
21st Century Insurance
Group (“21st Century”), which is owned
63 percent by AIG

Also serves as a director of Starr, SICO and ILFC


MARTIN J. SULLIVAN

Director since 2002

Vice Chairman and Co-Chief Operating Officer, AIG

Age 49

Also serves as a director of Starr and SICO


EDMUND S.W. TSE

Director since 1996

Senior Vice Chairman—Life Insurance, AIG

Age 66

Also serves as a director of Starr and SICO


FRANK G. ZARB

Director since 2001

Former Chairman, National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. and The Nasdaq Stock Market, Inc.; Senior Advisor, Hellman & Friedman LLC (Private Equity Investment Firm)

Age 69

Director, FPL Group, Inc. Florida Power & Light

http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/5272/000095011704001279/a37136.htm


FPL is part of the Florida Council of 100 (it's a small good ol'boy world afterall):

Florida Council of 100 blurs business, political lines - TALLAHASSEE -- Surrounded by a multi-million dollar modern art collection, seated on purple, crushed-velvet chairs that resemble thrones, Florida's top CEOs mingle amid strains of harp and piano music.--
The cocktail-party setting echoes political fund-raisers hosted and attended by the same people. But on this balmy autumn evening in Orlando, the Council of 100 is setting its agenda for Florida.
The businessmen -- from developers to Disney executives to bankers -- are drafting blueprints to restructure Florida's education system, revive its economy and fight off tax reform.
Working side-by-side behind closed doors with Gov. Jeb Bush and led by Bush's own campaign finance chairman -- they are driven by the conviction that what's good for Florida business must be good for the rest of the state. ...12/23/01
http://www.whoseflorida.com/council-of-100.htm
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=FPL+group+and+council+of+100

[Up2Late]

4. You think the New guy will be any better?

Or just more of the same?:shrug: