Insurance Executives Convicted

Five former insurance company executives, four from General Re and one from American International Group, were convicted of conspiracy, securities fraud, false statements to the SEC, and mail fraud in connection with a "finite insurance" contract used to make AIG's reserves look stronger than they were.  The defendants include the former CEO of General Re, Robert Ferguson, the company's former CFO, senior vice president, and long-time assistant general counsel in addition to a vice president from AIG.  The case revolved around reinsurance transactions in 2000 and 2001 that helped AIG report an increase in its insurance loss reserves, something that analysts had been critical about, negatively affecting the stock price.  According to prosecutors, the contracts were a sham transaction because no real risk passed to General Re, so AIG's accounting for it as a reinsurance agreement was improper.

An interesting twist in the case was the government's identification of former AIG CEO Maurice Greenberg as an unindicted co-conspirator, although he has never been charged with any crime.  Naming such a well-known executive as a member of the conspiracy may have been a means to undermine the defendants' "empty chair" defense that sought to blame the problems with the transactioin on Greenberg.  He was forced out of his position as CEO by then-New York Attorney General (and now Governor) Eliot Spitzer, who demanded Greenberg's termination on the threat of criminal prosecution of the company, an almost sure death sentence for an insurer.  General Re is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, whose CEO is Warren Buffett, once named as a potential witness in the case but never called by either side.

While the case is primarily an accounting fraud prosecution, it is different from more typical cases of this type because the main defendants were not from the company whose accounting was improper.  Indeed, there was no claim that General Re's recording of the transaction was improper, only AIG's.  In that sense, General Re was an enabler of AIG, the type of enterprise liability rejected by the Supreme Court in the Stoneridge case for private securities fraud actions.  One rationale for rejecting that theory of liability in Stoneridge was the presence of the SEC and federal prosecutors to crack down on companies that aid others in violating the securities laws.  An AP story (here) discusses the verdict, which the defendants have vowed to appeal. (ph)