Will AIG Settle This Week

The New York Times is reporting here the possibility of a forthcoming settlement between regulators and AIG -- the number 1.6 billion. (The Wall Street Journal says here - "of at least $1.5 billion").  Whether it is -1.5 or 1.6 billion, it is a number that the Wall Street Journal is calling the "largest finance-industry regulatory settlement with a single company in U.S. history."

What would such a settlement indicate -

1. That wrongdoing in a company no longer should be considered a "cost of doing business," as the ramifications of the wrongdoing are far graver than can be anticipated.

2. That companies need to be attuned not only to federal criminal penalties and investigations, but also state and regulatory bodies.

3.That juggling all the entities that might be waiting to jump down the throat of a company can be difficult to manuever and a new type of corporate counsel needs to be cognizant of this.

4.  Having an "effective" corporate compliance program REALLY is necessary.

The story of AIG's troubles has been a long one.  And with individual prosecutions on the horizon, it is far from over.  But one is likely to find the federal/state approach as a key discussion in the business classes that use AIG as a case sudy.

People ask us how does one pull up all the prior posts on AIG.  It's really very simple.  Below this post is the date and next to it is the topic AIG.  Just click the AIG and all the prior posts can be seen.  They will be listed by date with the most recent ones first.

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