REPORT: After Getting A Gigantic Bailout, AIG Is Considering Suing The Government
Insurance giant AIG is considering suing the government in a $25 billion shareholder lawsuit over bailout terms, the New York Times' Ben Protess and Michael de la Merced report.
AIG's board will meet tomorrow to decide whether or not it will join the shareholder suit.
Here's the basic premise of the lawsuit, according to the NYTimes:
...The lawsuit does not argue that government help was not needed. It contends that the onerous nature of the rescue — the taking of what became a 92 percent stake in the company, the deal’s high interest rates and the funneling of billions to the insurer’s Wall Street clients — deprived shareholders of tens of billions of dollars and violated the Fifth Amendment, which prohibits the taking of private property for “public use, without just compensation.”
The lawsuit was filed by former CEO Maurice Greenberg on behalf of shareholders in 2011. Greenberg is still a big shareholder in AIG.