Maurice "Hank" Greenberg has agreed not to seek a proxy battle over control of American International Group.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the former chief executive of AIG agreed not to take any action to control decisions the company's executives make.

The filing yesterday said that Mr. Greenberg and his associate holdings will not take any actions "to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of the issuer or otherwise exercise a controlling influence" over AIG.

However, the filing continued, no decision has been made "regarding their future intentions with regards to their plans and proposals."

The move comes after New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo issued a warning to Mr. Greenberg and his group of holdings that includes insurer C.V. Starr & Co. Inc. that they were illegally exerting influence on the company.

Collectively, the group owns 12 percent of AIG voting stock. Mr. Dinallo said Mr. Greenberg and his holdings must obtain permission from the superintendent before they can exert any proxy proposals as a controlling interest.

Mr. Greenberg was forced out two years ago as AIG chairman and chief executive amid investigations by then New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and federal authorities that probed allegations of accounting fraud and commercial insurance bid-rigging.

New York eventually filed a civil fraud action, alleging that improper finite reinsurance transactions took place designed to boost AIG's stock price. Although Mr. Greenberg remains a defendant in that case, the insurance company was let out of the suit after agreeing to a $1.6 billion settlement.

Mr. Greenberg and his former company have been in a legal battle ever since over who was to blame. An attorney for Mr. Greenberg has argued that because of this situation, Mr. Greenberg has no control over the company, noting that AIG is suing Mr. Greenberg for $1 billion and Starr International for over $15 billion. Mr. Greenberg is currently chairman and CEO of C.V. Starr & Company.

The group members with Mr. Greenberg include: Edward Matthews, Starr International Company, C.V. Starr & Company Inc., Universal Foundation Inc., the Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Family Foundation Inc., the Maurice R. and Corinne P. Greenberg Joint Tenancy Company LLC, and C.V. Starr & Company Inc. Trust.

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Greenberg: No Proxy Move On AIG

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