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AIG Considers Joining Shareholders Lawsuit Against U.S. Government

HeadlineJan 09, 2013

The insurance giant American International Group, known as AIG, is sparking outrage over reports it is considering joining a shareholders lawsuit against the U.S. government. AIG’s board is said to be weighing whether to join a suit by former CEO Maurice Greenberg that alleges the company’s 2008 bailout shortchanged investors and violated their Fifth Amendment rights. The move comes just two weeks after AIG finally repaid the $182 billion in federal money it received to keep it from collapse. Greenberg himself has come under wide criticism for running AIG when it helped create many of the complex financial instruments that caused the current economic collapse. In a statement, Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said: “Taxpayers across this country saved AIG from ruin, and it would be outrageous for this company to turn around and sue the federal government because they think the deal wasn’t generous enough. … AIG should thank American taxpayers for their help, not bite the hand that fed them for helping them out in a crisis.”

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