AIG Ends U.S. Government Interest with Warrant Buyback

Insurer American International Group Inc. eliminated the U.S. government’s last financial interest in the company on March 1, buying back warrants from the U.S. Treasury for about $25 million.

The government rescued AIG at the depths of the financial crisis as the insurer teetered on the brink of bankruptcy. The bailout ultimately totaled $182 billion, and when all was said and done the Treasury owned over 90 percent of the company.

The Treasury sold the last of that stock last year but still held some warrants. AIG said on March 1 it had repurchased all of them. They had originally been issued in 2008 and 2009.

“The U.S. Treasury does not have any residual interest in AIG after AIG’s repurchase of these warrants,” the company said in a statement. With this repurchase, “we are turning the final page on America’s assistance to AIG,” CEO Robert Benmosche said.