Dinallo to Testify at Senate Hearing on AIG Aid Plan Alyn Ackermann

New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo is scheduled to appear next week at a U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing to examine the $150 billion federal rescue plan for American International Group.

Dinallo will testify at the March 5 event, said New York Insurance Department spokesman Andy Mais. Other witnesses will include officials from the Federal Reserve and the Office of Thrift Services, said Mais.

Efforts to obtain comment from the committee chairman, Sen. Christopher Dodd, D-Conn., and officials at New York-based AIG were not immediately successful.

AIG confirmed this week that it is discussing with federal officials “new alternatives” for shoring up the insurer’s finances under its $150 billion rescue plan (BestWire, Feb. 24, 2009).

Dodd’s committee included language in the $787.2 billion stimulus plan signed by President Barack Obama last week that retroactively caps the salaries of top executives at AIG and other companies that received federal aid under the federal Troubled Asset Relief Program (BestWire, Feb. 17, 2009).

Most AIG insurance companies currently have a Best’s Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent) with a negative outlook.

Shares of AIG were $0.55 in morning trading on Feb. 26, up 19.6% from the previous close.

(By Alyn Ackermann, senior associate editor, BestWeek: Alyn.Ackermann@ambest.com)
Copyright © 2009 A.M. Best Company, Inc. New York Insurance Superintendent Eric Dinallo is scheduled to appear next week at a U.S. Senate Banking Committee hearing to examine the $150 billion federal rescue plan for American International Group.