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Editor's remarks: Passing the buck on AIG

03 November 2008

Read more: aig martin sullivan hank greenberg robert wilumstad

At a congressional hearing in October, two of American International Group (AIG)'s former chief executive officers were summoned to give testimony about what went wrong.

Martin Sullivan appeared contrite as he was barracked with questions. In his testimony he spun a tale of woe suggesting that AIG had been the innocent victim of unforeseen circumstances that no one could have predicted, with the company standing helpless as it had to take big mark-to-market losses. He then went on to blame accounting practices.

He said: "Many factors appear to have been at play including lending and borrowing practices, illiquid markets, the absence of credit, loss of investor confidence,...


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Quote

If last year was the year of the cat, then this year could be the year of the debt crisis.

Mike Van Slooten, head of international market analysis at Aon Benfield