Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the former chief executive and brains behind the growth of American International Group, blamed the company's liquidity problems on management's failure to practice sound risk management.
In an interview last night on the "Charlie Rose Show" that aired on Public Broadcast Stations (PBS), Mr. Greenberg said that at the time he left the New York-based insurer, its financial products division had a small book of collateralized debt obligations business and strong risk management controls in place. He said the growth in that business took place after he was forced out by then Attorney General Eliot Spitzer in 2005 over an accounting fraud investigation.
"Obviously, a lot of that [risk management] either disappeared, was set aside, or no one paid attention and they just started doing things while no one was watching," Mr. Greenberg told Mr. Rose. "There was a breakdown in the controls that had been established. AIG didn't get to where it was without good risk management controls."
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.