The Board of Directors of AIG avoided scandal by deciding not to press charges against the State. The company, therefore, dissents from some shareholders who claimed 25 billion USD from the government. These shareholders believe that while government’s intervention was necessary to save the insurer from bankruptcy in 2008, it was miscarried. They feel cheated by the dilution of shareholders’ weight after the acquisition of 92% of the capital by the State.
The second grievance addressed to the authorities regards the use of a 14% interest rate, believed to be prohibitive. They also blame the State for violating the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution which prohibits nationalization without “fair” compensation. They entrusted their defense to Maurice Greenberg, former head of the group for almost forty years and AIG’s main shareholder until its nationalization. M. Greenberg was the instigator of the first complaint lodged in 2011.
