AFR Statement: Regulators were wrong to remove AIG from list of systemically important financial companies

 

“AIG is smaller today than when it received the biggest taxpayer bailout in US history,” said AFR Policy Director Marcus Stanley. “But it’s still a $500 billion company and the fourth largest U.S. insurer, with plenty of business in risky investment products like variable annuities. Now that it has been de-designated and removed from special government oversight, AIG will immediately pursue additional growth and take on new risks. The financial crisis demonstrated that purely state-level oversight cannot fully address the potential systemic risks of our largest insurance companies. It was an ill-considered and reckless decision to remove AIG’s designation as a systemically significant financial institution.”