No Permanent Chair Replacement At AIG
NU Online News Service April 21, 2:05 p.m. EDT?Turmoil-ridden American International Group did a board room reshuffling yesterday but failed to provide a permanent replacement for Maurice Greenberg, who left as chairman March 31.[@@]
The embattled insurer, which is under investigation by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the Securities Exchange Commission for accounting irregularities, named Frank G. Zarb interim chairman.
George L. Miles Jr., CEO of Pittsburgh-based WQED Multimedia, and Morris W. Offit, Co-CEO of Offit Hall Capital Management LLC (a financial advisory firm based in New York and San Francisco) were added as AIG directors, the company said.
Mr. Greenberg's retirement was announced two weeks before he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when questioned about past AIG transactions by state and federal investigators. His lawyer, David Boies, said he did so because he was not given enough time to prepare.
Mr. Zarb initially took over Mr. Greenberg's non-executive chairman's duties in his capacity as the board's lead director. Mr. Zarb's slot as chairman of the board's executive committee now goes to Martin G. Sullivan, who took over as chief executive officer March 14 when Mr. Greenberg resigned that post.
AIG's other board actions included what it said were moves to improve its corporate governance by creating two committees–a Regulatory, Compliance and Legal panel and a Public Policy and Social Responsibility Committee.
On March 30, the company said it had found improprieties on its books, and postponed filing its annual results with the SEC until April 30 while a forensic accounting team from KPMG goes over its finances. The company has said its coming restatement could reduce its book value by $1.8 billion.
Mr. Zarb announced that the board moves should resolve regulatory issues and enhance transparency. More than two-thirds of AIG's 18 directors are now outsiders, he said.
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