Posted on 03/30/2005 2:31:09 PM PST by Liz
Warren Buffett didn't know how AIG's Hank Greenberg was going to use or misuse reinsurance products sold to the insurer in 2001.
The Oracle of Omaha, who is expected to be questioned by insurance regulators in two weeks about the deals with AIG, "was not briefed on how the transactions were to be structured," his company, Berkshire Hathaway, said yesterday.
Neither was Buffett, 74, briefed "on any improper use or purposes of the transactions"........
Greenberg and AIG are under fire from both federal and state regulators for the structure of several deals, including those with Buffett's General Reinsurance, that were no more than thinly veiled attempts to inflate reserves.
The pressure from the SEC and from Spitzer has crushed AIG stock recently and led to Greenberg's announcement at 10:49 p.m. Monday night that he would not stand for reelection as AIG chairman but would retire.
Two weeks earlier, Greenberg was forced to resign as CEO, a position he held for nearly 40 years.
Separately, AIG said it stepped up security at its Bermuda-based American International Co. in a memo prohibiting destruction of documents or removal of files.
Greenberg joins his son, Jeffrey Greenberg, who was forced out by Spitzer as CEO of insurance broker Marsh & McLennan in October.
Spitzer yesterday commended the AIG board for its actions, which he called "wise."
"[It] has moved quickly to address problems uncovered by an investigation by my office and the SEC," Spitzer said in a statement. "The board brought in outside counsel to investigate wrongdoing, and is cooperating fully with regulators. The board has made difficult decisions, including major personnel changes."
Spitzer said without the elder Greenberg atop the giant insurer, the months-long probe is now "on a path toward resolution."
Shares of AIG were up $1.18, or 2.07 percent, to $58.20.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Maybe Ken Lay shoulda "retired" to escape justice (/sarc).
someone call Bernie Ebbers - tell him he should have kept his stock high by buying other companies. Worked for WB.
Yeah, Bernie really screwed-up that one (/sarc).
Buffett is a crook. He is currently shorting the US dollar while he and Bill Gates is going around the nation telling people that the dollar has a long way to go before hitting bottom. SEC should be looking into his business practices.
Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com
If they find some serious problems at AIG, you can almost bet even money that the SEC will start looking at Berkshire Hathaway's relationship with AIG. That could cause no end of trouble for Warren Buffett, and it might just lead into an investigation of the financial operations of Buffett's financial empire. We may be at the tip of a financial scandal that could make Enron and Worldcom look like a minor event in comparison. 
*[2005 Terri Award Nominee, "Most oblique reference to the topic that must be mentioned on every single #@$&ing thread"]
Follow the money; he's dirty as sin.
I'd absolutely love to see the Oracle of Omaha in cuffs...what a friggn hypocrite. All my Liberal friends are going to take a bath on that expensive BH stock they adore, LOL.
Biggest tax shelter in the world-for Buffett. Won't even pay a modicum of dividend to shareholders.
Some of the takes that the government have espoused in various cases about financial products makes me wonder if their prosecutors have any real understanding of what they are prosecuting. Clear problems, such as the bid-rigging, are mixed in with items that are not so clearly a problem at all.
No problem. What's he accused of doing, and what is the evidense?
"I wasn't aware that that was illegal."
His actions may not be illegal, but it’s deceitful at best. He is buying positions short on the dollar, and THEN uses his fame to talk the dollar down. Buffet control enough wealth to push the dollar down just by leveraging through option contracts. When you add this to the press conferences, I believe he is manipulating the markets. He controls a massive amount of wealth through his company, and his actions are not appropriate.
Holtz
JeffersonRepublic.com
Buffet doesn't know diddly about reinsurance - a very technical business and a gambler's paradise. Big bucks and big risk. He runs a holding co. and lets existing management work the businesses that he buys. Watch for General Re names to show up as this develops - Ferguson, Brandon...
Buffet is a super rich and elite member of the Rat Party.
So he will skate by on this.
Speaking of Crooks, pray you never get hit by a Geico Driver, (Geico one of Buffet's companies.)
We were rear ended by a a Geico Drive before Christmas and Geico has yet to pay a nickel.
"Biggest tax shelter in the world-for Buffett. Won't even pay a modicum of dividend to shareholders."
Buffet went bonkers re GW's tax plan to cut the tax on dividends. He advised Arnold to get rid of prop 13 before Arnold dumped him as his financial advisor re how help California.
Anyone who owns mutual funds or stocks that don't declare dividends, might want to sell them.
That is Buffet's modus operandi in his public securities plays.
He poo-pooed corporate bonds down a few years back and then gobbled them up.
He is not stupid but he does have some snake oil in him.
And his politics and behavior towards family leave a lot to be desired.
And lest we forget, he is one of the world's leading financiers of infanticide.
Thanks for the input.
Yes, and Eliot Spithead fancies himself as Eliot Ness reincarnate... The big "Untouchable" ya know... Phhhhhht!!!
AIG's biggest mistake was ever getting involved in any way with the so-called "Oracle of Omaha!"
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