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XL’s McGavick slams AIG government ownership

18 March 2010

The government ownership of a large part of AIG is an offence to AIG’s competitors, Michael McGavick, CEO of Bermudian insurance and reinsurance group XL Capital, has charged.

Read more: michael mcgavick american international group aig john degnan chubb david brown flagstone re

The government ownership of a large part of American International Group (AIG), the US insurance firm that had to be bailed out by the government in 2008, is an offence to AIG’s competitors, Michael McGavick, CEO of Bermudian insurance and reinsurance group XL Capital, has charged.

In an unusually frank discussion at the World Insurance Forum in Bermuda, McGavick laid into the situation at AIG, saying it will have dire consequences for consumers in the long run.

“The now government-owned competitor problem is very, very real,” McGavick said. “I am quite astonished, and I suppose at some crass level, very jealous of [AIG] being able to call the Treasury to refuel reserves. I think this is fascinating idea and should be offensive to all of us that compete.

“It sets in motion a whole bunch of unintended consequences in the marketplace that the consumer will rue when it corrects...


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