Clouds continue to hover over
The probe into the U.K. operations of AIG Financial Products Corp. (AIGFP) did not concern the insurance operations of AIG in Britain or elsewhere, said the SFO.
"It is right for us to look into the UK operations of AIG Financial Products Corp. to determine if there has been criminal conduct," Richard Alderman, director of the SFO, said in a statement.
"We will use our full range of powers to seek information and to speak to those with an inside knowledge of the company's operations."
AIG said it was cooperating fully with the SFO investigation.
Meanwhile, the carrier is reported to be in advanced talks to sell a hotel in Puerto Rico and two office buildings in Dubai, says Reuters. A Tokyo office building is also listed for sale. Overlooking the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, the Otemachi building could net AIG about $1 billion, although reports said it was still too early in the process to know.
The pending sales are part of AIG's larger plans to divest itself of assets and businesses in order to make good on the U.S. government’s rescue efforts.
These auctions will help the insurer better understand the market for real estate assets it plans to sell, Eric Martinez, chief restructuring officer for global real estate, told Reuters.
"These are the market testers for us," Martinez said in an interview. "And so we take back the data we get from this to really understand ... what we have to do next with our business plan."