American International Group, Inc. AIG confirmed today that the AIG
Board of Directors will consider, at a meeting scheduled for January 9, 2013,
the demand served on the AIG Board of Directors on September 21, 2012, by
Starr International Company, Inc. (“Starr”) as to whether AIG will take over,
or allow Starr to continue to pursue, a lawsuit that Starr filed on behalf of
itself and other AIG shareholders contesting the Constitutionality of certain
terms of the U.S. government's rescue of AIG in September 2008.
Under applicable law, as well as according to certain court rulings, the AIG
Board must consider and respond to Starr's demand, and expects to do so by the
end of January 2013.
Specifically, in November 2011, Starr filed a lawsuit in the United States
Court of Federal Claims and the United States District Court for the Southern
District of New York alleging, among other things, that the Government's 2008
receipt of a 79.9% equity interest in AIG constituted a wrongful “taking”
without just compensation, in violation of the United States Constitution. The
lawsuit makes claims on a “derivative” basis in the name of AIG and for its
benefit, as well as on a “direct” basis on behalf of Starr and other
similarly-situated shareholders.
By its demand, Starr requests that the AIG Board authorize AIG to assume
control of the claims that Starr is pursuing in AIG's name or allow Starr to
pursue these claims on AIG's behalf. Starr's complaint seeks approximately $25
billion in damages.
The Board has three options with respect to the derivative claims asserted on
its behalf: (1) take over Starr's claims and prosecute them on its own; (2)
refuse the demand and prevent the claims from being prosecuted by Starr, a
decision Starr is likely to challenge; or (3) allow Starr to prosecute the
claims on AIG's behalf. Importantly, the Court of Federal Claims has denied
the Government's motion to dismiss the suit, so that the case will go forward
with or without AIG's participation. If AIG does not allow the derivative
claims to proceed on AIG's behalf and Starr prevails or obtains a favorable
settlement on its direct claims, then AIG will not receive any of the amounts
recovered.
It is the AIG Board's obligation and intention to consider seriously Starr's
demand and respond to it in a manner that the Board believes is in the best
interest of the Company, taking into account all the relevant circumstances.
“AIG has paid back its debt to America with a profit, and we mean it when we
say thank you to the American people,” said Robert H. Benmosche, President and
Chief Executive Officer of AIG. “At the same time, the Board of Directors has
fiduciary and legal obligations to the Company and its shareholders to
consider the demand served on us and respond in a fair, appropriate, and
timely manner. Tomorrow's Board meeting is about listening to all of the
parties involved and gaining a thorough understanding of the issues. We
anticipate making a decision in the next several weeks.”
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