Metlife expected to sell Taiwan unit by April -source - Reuters
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Link this * Metlife unit sale will be latest exit by foreign insurer * Second attempt at a sale (Adds comments, details) By Faith Hung TAIPEI, Feb 22 (Reuters) - U.S. life insurer Metlife Inc (MET.N) has drawn three bidders for its Taiwan unit and...
MET.N ) has drawn three bidders for its Taiwan unit and is expected to seal a deal by as early as April, a source with direct knowledge of the situation said on Tuesday.
It is Metlife's second attempt to sell the unit after an earlier $112 million deal was blocked by regulators, a fate that also befell AIG's first stab at selling Nan Shan. Authorities are sensitive to life insurers because of the huge numbers of policies held by individual Taiwanese.
Metlife expected to sell Taiwan unit by April -source - Reuters
Takaful: The Cinderella of the Islamic finance industry - Arab News
Takaful (Islamic mutual insurance), the Cinderella of the Islamic finance industry, received potentially a major boost with the entry at the end of January 2011 of US insurance giant AIG (American Insurance Group) into the Malaysian market through a RM100-million joint venture, AIA AFG Takaful Berhad, between its flagship Asian entity, American International Assurance Berhad (70 percent equity) and Alliance Bank Malaysia Berhad (30 percent equity), a member of the Alliance Financial Group Berhad of Malaysia.
In fact, two further international-local Takaful joint ventures are scheduled to come to enter the market in 2011 following the approval last year by Malaysian Finance Minister and Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak of the four new joint-venture family Takaful licenses under the Takaful Act of 1984. This was part of Malaysia’s ongoing financial liberalization of its Islamic finance sector which was announced by Prime Minister Najib in April 2009.
These included AIA AFG Takaful Berhad; the joint venture between AMMB Holdings Berhad (70 percent) and Friends Provident Group PLC, UK (30 percent); one between ING Management Holdings (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (60 percent), Public Bank Berhad (20 percent) and Public Islamic Bank Berhad (20 percent); and one between The Great Eastern Life Assurance Company Ltd. (70 percent) and Koperasi Angkatan Tentera Malaysia Berhad (30 percent).
This brings the number of Takaful operators in Malaysia to 12. The other Takaful operators include CIMB Aviva Takaful Berhad, Etiqa Takaful Berhad, Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Berhad, HSBC Amanah Takaful (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, MAA Takaful Berhad, Prudential BSN Takaful Berhad, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Berhad and Takaful Ikhlas Sdn. Bhd. Further international interest in Malaysia’s Takaful market is the 35 percent equity stake being finalized by Japan’s Mitsui Sumitomo in Hong Leong Tokio Marine Takaful Berhad.
Takaful: The Cinderella of the Islamic finance industry - Arab News
Islamic Finance - Radiance Viewsweekly
AIG completes sale of Japan subsidiaries Star, Edison companies - Insurance Business Review
American International Group (AIG) has completed the sale of its Japan-based life insurance subsidiaries, AIG Star Life Insurance and AIG Edison Life Insurance to Prudential Financial for $4.8bn, comprising $4.2bn in cash and $0.6bn in the assumption of third-party debt.
AIG Edison Life Insurance provides life insurance services in Japan as well as provides distribution channels for AIG which includes government agencies, large corporations and unions.
It has 8,000 sales agents and 17 bancassurance partners in Japan. The company was formerly known as GE Edison Life Insurance and changed its name to AIG Edison Life Insurance.
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AIG completes sale of Japan subsidiaries Star, Edison companies - Insurance Business Review
AIG, U.S. Select 4 Banks for Share Sale - Wall Street Journal
American International Group Inc. and the U.S. Treasury have chosen four Wall Street banks to jointly lead their first large offering of AIG shares in the coming months for a cut-rate fee, according to people familiar with the matter.
J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Bank of America Corp. and Deutsche Bank AG were picked from a pool of 10 banks that last week pitched for lead roles in the historic share sale, the people said.
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AIG, U.S. Select 4 Banks for Share Sale - Wall Street Journal
AIG’s Major Share Sale Near - Wall Street Journal
American International Group Inc. said it expects to close an agreement with the U.S. government on Friday, paving the way for share sales that could eventually enable the insurer to end its status as a ward of the state.
Preparations for what could be the biggest stock offering in U.S. history officially get under way Thursday, as AIG and government officials audition Wall Street banks for a lead role in what insiders are calling the "re-IPO" of AIG.
Top executives of multiple banks, including Bank of America Corp. chief Brian Moynihan , J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. vice chairman and deal maker James B. Lee Jr. and Morgan Stanley chief James Gorman are among those scheduled to attend a series of meetings in New York at the midtown law offices of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, according to people familiar with the matter.
AIG said Wednesday it plans to pay down and terminate a $21 billion credit facility from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Friday, issue warrants to private shareholders, and exchange the Treasury's preferred shares into common stock representing a 92.1% stake in the company. That majority stake has an implied value of over $75 billion. Treasury plans to carve it up into pieces that can be sold through several offerings.
AIG's Major Share Sale Near - Wall Street Journal
M&A Navigator: Deal pipeline - 7 January - Trading Markets (press release)
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M&A Navigator: Deal pipeline - 7 January - Trading Markets (press release)
Moral Hazards, Moral Buzzards - Monthly Review
Is it a good idea to let the foreclosures roll on? A lot more than that, say the banking and mortgage industries, among others. "Home repo" is critical to economic recovery, they argue. Stopping foreclosures would cut the legs off a still-wobbly rebound. In the industry's view, the fewer foreclosures, the fewer resales; the fewer resales, the more depressed the home prices and the greater the losses; the greater losses, the less capital to lend. And we are back on the precipice of depression.
There are many ironies in the disaster of mortgage securitization -- the process that turns mortgages into tradable investments. Consider how legal and moral obligations have served the wealthy and disadvantaged everyone else. "Moral hazard" makes it taboo to "forgive" the debt of "underwater" borrowers, whose mortgages cost more than their home value. Letting them out of their obligations would only encourage them to continue to live beyond their means, borrowing more than they can afford, believing there are no adverse consequence. On the other hand, "moral hazard" did not deter the trillion-dollar plus bailout of Bear Stearns, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, AIG, their Wall Street wannabes, and hundreds of multi-billion-dollar hedge fund entrepreneurs. The latter were too big to fail, which trumps "moral hazard." The former weren't.
Every week, federal government prosecutors bring mortgage fraud indictments against desperate con artists for cheating on loan applications. But not one bank executive has been charged for his or her role in the signature "systemic" economic crime in American history. If a loan officer persuades you to inflate your income by $25,000, you may both go to prison. But bury $60 billion in mortgage-derived "toxic assets" in "off-balance sheet" accounts (such as Citibank), or "insure" trillions of dollars in potential losses on the same "assets" without setting aside ten cents in reserves (as at AIG), and you go skiing in Aspen.
Americans in the 21st century have experienced the most massive and notorious expropriation of wealth from bottom to top since slavery. It is theft of an entirely new boldness and magnitude. The country is only now beginning to feel the fuller deprivation from this grandest of larcenies.
Moral Hazards, Moral Buzzards - Monthly Review
Have we Learned Nothing from AIG? - Small Cap Network
AIG ) which is reportedly preparing to repay its aid from the U.S. government, said it has obtained $4.3 billion in new credit lines from commercial banks to replace its funding from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The insurance Co said it has established $3 billion in bank credit facilities, split between a 364-day line and a three-year facility, under which banks have agreed to make loans to AIG. Also, AIG's property and casualty insurance subsidiary, Chartis, entered a one-year, $1.3 billion letter of credit facility. AIG received the biggest government rescue of any financial company during the recession.
Its money-credit from the Fed and Treasury was worth $182 billion. AIG this past in Sept announced a recapitalization plan under which it would be able to repay the American taxpayer for the bailouts. The deal gave the U.S. Treasury a 92.1% stake in AIG before it could begin selling its shares.
AIB ) to guard against loan losses, and delist it from major stock exchanges; largely wiping out shareholders. The Irish government will in essence own AIB.
Have we Learned Nothing from AIG? - Small Cap Network
AIG to pay $146M in penalties - Bradenton Herald
HARRISBURG, Pa. -- American Insurance Group Inc. and its insurance affiliates have agreed to pay more than $100 million in fines and other penalties to resolve claims the insurer violated workers compensation regulations.
The proposed settlement negotiated between AIG and insurance regulators in eight states would close out a probe into allegations the insurance giant under-reported some $2.12 billion of workers compensation premiums, Pennsylvania insurance officials said Wednesday.
State regulators accused AIG of reporting the workers compensations premiums as general or commercial automobile liability premiums. The violations occurred over a period of time, primarily before 1996, regulators claimed.
State regulators accused AIG of reporting the workers compensations premiums as general or commercial automobile liability premiums. The violations occurred over a period of time, primarily before 1996, regulators claimed. “Accurate company financial data is an essential ingredient of proper insurance regulation,” said Robert Pratter, Pennsylvania’s acting insurance commissioner.
AIG to pay $146M in penalties - Bradenton Herald