Presents, a Life with a Plan. My name is Karen Anastasia Placek, I am the author of this Google Blog. This is the story of my journey, a quest to understanding more than myself. The title of this blog, "The Secret of the Universe is Choice!; know decision" will be the next global slogan. Placed on T-shirts, Jackets, Sweatshirts, it really doesn't matter, 'cause a picture with my slogan is worth more than a thousand words, it's worth??.......Know Conversation!!!
I will not play the game of how is the for to example a card from the book of stature,
should the verse go to a soar than the proverb is to ship,
in never is the inch as the measure is the ink.
As lend is the file to word off the keen is the wild mirrored or the key note,
dip Well with a stuck to bucket owned,
bigger than shore is the land or that sand that river of sift?
Rise to a rib at the Riddle,
type skeet,
arm to elbow is a bend at the wrist,
did then pail more too?
Handle of a connection as the swing is it's pivot,
ground did more to mud as the floor,
tile is the crockery that plates Oil to drill's screw,
which is the path that bricks is it forge?
Heave rock to Salt,
gear that with a water called Ocean or bay,
vocal language echoes at what to a wave,
with clay.
Bubble dot is a pencil frame,
puzzle is a lane,
pieces are the usage,
yet what of the grave.
Sim aye coal lens Mark,
a capital changes with Len and yet plural is only glasses?,
place the knows?
What's black and white and read all over.
Sensorama
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Sensorama, from U.S. Patent #3050870
The Sensorama machine (scriptanime.wordpress.com)
The Sensorama was a machine that is one of the earliest known examples of immersive, multi-sensory (now known as multimodal) technology. Morton Heilig, who today would be thought of as a "multimedia" specialist, in the 1950s saw theater as an activity that could encompass all the senses in an effective manner, thus drawing the viewer into the onscreen activity. He dubbed it "Experience Theater", and detailed his vision of multi-sensory theater in his 1955 paper entitled "The Cinema of the Future" (Robinett 1994). In 1962 he built a prototype of his vision, dubbed the Sensorama, along with five short films for it to display. The Sensorama was a mechanical device, which still functions today.
Howard Rheingold (in his 1991 book Virtual Reality) spoke of his trial of the Sensorama using a short film piece that detailed a bicycle ride through Brooklyn, created in the 1950s, and still seemed quite impressed by what it could do more than 40 years later. The Sensorama was able to display stereoscopic3-D images in a wide-angle view, provide body tilting, supply stereo sound, and also had tracks for wind and aromas to be triggered during the film. Oddly enough in hindsight, Heilig was simply unable to obtain financial backing for his visions and patents, and so the Sensorama work was halted.
Surely practicing law is not a pass from the State Bar of California to part what was my family. This cannot be the true fast of what my mother said and yet here in black and white and read all over seems somehow complete and only applicable to the years that have been removed bringing envelope to nothing more than and nothing less than this notation for my two youngest to real eyes and say to only themselves.
For I it is not and this will not be an address to Steven L. Wessels of Sacramento, California in any manner other than this finally explains in plain newsprint the why Mr. Steven L. Wessels, attorney at-law in Sacramento, California was able to maintain only a post office box and not only brag about it but in process bring my court case to such a horror that today his client, the father of my two youngest children may be full to brim of pride. May all the guilt be by conviction.
ABOUT ME
I was raised on a farm in East Central Illinois with six siblings, and enlisted in the Army for four years in late 1966 to avoid the draft. I was trained as a North Vietnamese Linguist, and spent a year in Viet Nam, with a year in Japan and a side-trip to Thailand for three months. After the service I worked for three years as a deputy sheriff in Northern California, which triggered my desire to become an attorney.
While I am no longer practicing law, I was involved in all aspects of family law litigation since early 1981, with the primary emphasis on custody cases, and I’ve helped a number of families with parental terminations / step-parent and private adoption issues. With the lack of legislative guidelines, I created on-demand drug testing standards for family law cases in 1986 and began suggesting them in several counties. I also hosted an hour-long weekly call-in talk show on a local Christian AM radio station from 1987 to 1994, and have occasionally testified in the legislature on varying issues. I’ve also hosted a number of parental rights seminars, and should have my first book on family law litigation in print by the end of 2015. It’s titled The Lighted Switch and should be available on my website shortly.
Professionally, I’ve been a member of the nationwide Christian Legal Society since 1976, and was the Sacramento area lead attorney in the 1994 statewide lawsuits against the California Department of Education to stop the wholesale invasion of parental and children’s rights with the California Learning Assessment Tests, known as the CLAS tests. Personally, I’ve helped launch two children and three step-children, and began writing poetry in February of 1997. I learned the absolute necessity of surrendering my will to God in 1976 and currently attend a local Covenant church with my family. I’m currently working on four more books for strengthening marriages.
My second book to be titled Great Foundations should be in print before the end of 2016. My deepest desire is to show teens and young married couples the path to great marital relationships that thrive the way God intended for us to live.
Steve Wessels is no longer practicing law, and the general information contained within this website should not be relied on in any jurisdiction for legal advice. Every case turns on different facts and circumstances within the vastly different laws and procedures of each jurisdiction, and everyone who is seeking legal advice should consult an experienced attorney where they live.
The International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) was established by the General Assembly of the United Nations for 2008 with
a view to raising worldwide public and political awareness of the vast, though frequently under-used, potential the Earth
Sciences possess for improving the quality of life of the peoples of the world and safeguarding Earth’s rich and diverse
geo-environments. The International Year project was jointly initiated in 2001 by the non-governmental International
Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the Earth Science Division of the inter-governmental United Nations Educational,
Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). To increase its impact, the UN Year (2008) was stretched to
an IYPE triennium that included 2007 and 2009. The IYPE Corporation, consisting of a Board of Directors, a Secretariat
and an Advisory Group, was registered in 2006 as a non-profit organisation in the USA. A strong emphasis on enhancing
the role of the Earth sciences in building a healthier, safer and wealthier society was adopted – as declared in the Year’s
logo strap-line “Earth Sciences for Society”. Two operational programmes addressed outreach to raise public and political
awareness, and science to enhance research in the Earth sciences. Through IYPE’s 80 National and Regional Committees,
the Outreach Programme, with a major education component, achieved considerable success in the hands of the IYPE
member states representing over 80 percent of the global population. The Science Programme concentrated on bringing
together scientists from around the world to advance collaborative science in ten designated areas of global concern.
These areas included groundwater, human health, climate change, geo-hazards, resources, mega-cities, deep Earth, soils,
ocean, and Earth & life. As fundraising started to bear fruit quite late in the triennium, insufficient funds were available
to properly support a (costly) Science Programme. Moreover, several of the ten IYPE themes were addressed at national
levels through current university curricula and special programmes. The IYPE has undoubtedly benefitted the Earth
sciences and has left a significant legacy, including more students enrolling in the Earth sciences in at least eleven
countries. The UN proclamation was crucial for the success of the IYPE, in particular for national implementation of the
aims and ambitions through its National and Regional Committees.
1. Introduction
Following adoption of a Draft Resolution on proclamation of the International Year of Planet Earth by UNESCO’s
33rd General Conference in October 2005, the United Nations General Assembly, in its 68th Session, adopted on
22 December 2005 Resolution 60/192 to proclaim 2008 the International Year of Planet Earth.
The rationale for the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) was the rather dramatically declining numbers of students
enrolling in the Earth sciences at a time when society is in need of substantially more such experts. Education in the
Earth sciences provides humankind with the ways and means of ensuring sustainable use of natural resources and of
generating the scientific infrastructure that is vital for sustainable development, yet the available wealth of scientific
information on planet Earth remains largely untapped and hardly known to the public and their decision makers.
Thus, the IYPE and its legacy initiatives are well placed to raise public awareness of the importance for sustainable
development of the Earth’s processes and resources; disaster prevention, reduction and mitigation; and capacity building
for the sustainable management of resources. It follows that the International Year should be seen as an important
contribution to the UN Decade for Education for Sustainable Development. The ambition to promote the use of
(Earth) science for decision making on societal issues was expressed in the IYPE’s subtitle: Earth Sciences for Society.
The UN Proclamation was the result of a process initiated in 2001 on the part of the International Union of Geological
Sciences (IUGS), with the support of UNESCO, both of which were identified as the IYPE Initiators. IUGS, which is a
Non-Governmental Organisation, and UNESCO, an Inter-Governmental Organisation, already shared a long record of
productive cooperation in the natural sciences and their application to societal problems, including the International
Geoscience Programme (IGCP), now in its fourth decade.
This Report describes the history and the development of the initiative towards UN Proclamation. Next, attention
is given to the various components of the IYPE organisation, followed by the main part of the Report: Implementation.
This Chapter describes the two main programmes and includes a presentation of the main activities undertaken by
all National and Regional IYPE Committees. This is followed by a description of the communication tools used for
implementation. Chapter 6 provides a financial overview of the IYPE, followed by information on the output and legacy of
the IYPE in Chapter 7. This is followed by several short chapters: on the relation with other simultaneous international
Years (8), on UNESCO’s role in the IYPE (9), on perspectives for the future (10) and, finally, Conclusions and Evaluation (11).
Several Annexes complete the Report.
2. HISTORY
a. Rational and inception The idea of the International Year of Planet Earth emerged during Eduardo de Mulder’s evaluation of the state of the
Geosciences when he took over the office of President of the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) in August
2000. Despite quite significant and accelerated progress in the Earth sciences over the past four decades resulting in
paradigm shifts on the stability of the Earth’s crust (plate tectonics), the understanding of Earth processes (assisted by
physical and numerical modeling), the resolution in time (at annual levels to at least 800,000 years ago), and the
transparency of the composition of the planet (seismic tomography, geological mapping and digital data storage and
processing), public awareness of the Earth sciences seemed to have been in decline since the early 1980s. Evidence of
such decline was expressed by the numbers of students enrolling in Earth science departments of universities, mining
schools and other education centres.
This development was attributed to at least two
approximately concurrent factors (de Mulder, 2005):
Figure 1. Student enrolment in the Earth sciences at universities
in the USA (in blue) and oil price development (in red), period
Worldwide declining commodity prices Despite strongly increasing demands for Earth materials
and contrary to pessimistic views on exhaustion of Earth
resources as expressed by Meadows et al. (1972),
commodity prices fell significantly after the early 1980’s,
following long-term historic and generally downward
trends for raw materials (International Monetary Fund,
2001). Reducing commodity prices may partly be
attributed to new discoveries. A well-trained generation of
exploration geologists, equipped with new tools,
including satellite images and 3D seismic surveying techniques, and assisted by rapid data handling and modeling
methods, identified many new and extensive resources of almost all metals, minerals and fossil fuels. Thus, instead
of heading for immediate exhaustion, the world reserves of most commodities were increasing (Crowson, 1998).
Moreover, new discoveries were made at a time when exploration budgets in the mining sector – normally positively
correlated to commodity prices – were being cut (Goulden, 2006). That resulted in significantly fewer job opportunities for
young professionals in the extraction industry, traditionally the sector that employs most of each new generation
of Earth science graduates. Growing public concern for the environment From the mid 1970’s public concern about the environment and its impact on health and well-being began to grow.
Two publications played an important role in this respect: ‘Silent Spring’ (Carson, 1962) and ‘The Limits to growth: a global
challenge’ (Meadows et al. 1972). These publications placed ‘the environment’ on the political agenda and prompted
governments to take measures to protect it. Environmental concerns dealing with the geosphere were also expressed
by the geoscience community (Fyfe, 1981). Such concerns resulted in a negative public reaction to those industries
traditionally associated with exploitation of Earth resources and their related professions, including the Earth sciences.
In combination, both factors contributed to a sharp decline in student enrolment. Despite sharply rising commodity
prices since 2002/2003, student enrolment in the Earth sciences did not grow in most of the developing countries
(Figure 1). Apparently, negative perception of this profession prevailed among the young people in most countries,
regardless of the adoption of new and more environmentally concerned policies on the part of the mining and oil industries. Read the entire article/PEI file at http://yearofplanetearth.org/content/downloads/IYPE-FinalReport.pdf
Larry Woodfork & Eduardo de Mulder ..... The rationale for the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) was the rather dramatically declining numbers of students.
Nov 7, 2007 - Present: Woodfork Larry (Chair); de Mulder, Eduardo (for van Bracht, ... of otherinternational Years: the International Year of Mountains, the.
"IYPE is a celebration of the earth sciences," said Larry Woodfork, Chairman of ... International Year of Planet Earth, spanning 2007-2009, is a joint initiative of the ... Eduardo de Mulder, Executive Director, IYPE Secretariat, or Larry Woodfork, ...
Oct 31, 2008 - 2. Evolution of an idea. The idea of an International Year of Planet Earth was launched in 2000 at ... Kraas (Ge)). Nennonen (Fi), Marker (UK), de Mulder (Nl), ..... Larry Woodfork (USA) was appointed Chair of the IYPE Board of ... kind' and in cash. Eduardo F.J. de Mulder, Executive Director IYPE Secretariat.
The International Year of Planet Earth's triennial programme was launched is ... Dr. Eduardo de Mulder, IYPE's Executive Director, was present at the launch and ... are indebted to Larry Woodfork for agreeing to accept temporary. (Acting) ...
Our challenge for the next 200 years is to use our understanding of the Earth ... the other half bore that of the United Nations International Year of Planet Earth. ... Dr Eduardo de Mulder and his colleagues from the International Year's Board of .... by Larry Woodfork, a former President of AGI and Chair of International Year of ...
The United Nations General Assembly declared 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth ... The Year's Project Leader was former IUGS President Professor Eduardo F J de Mulder. The Year's Science Committee was chaired by Professor Edward Derbyshire (Royal Holloway) and its Outreach Committee by Dr Ted ...
Feb 12, 2008 - proclaimed International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) and in particular to its ... Eduardo de Mulder ..... Address by Chair of IYPE, Larry Woodfork.
The Year aimed to raise $20 million from industry and governments, of which half was to be spent on co-funding research, and half on "outreach" activities. It was intended to be the biggest ever international effort to promote the Earth sciences.
Apart from researchers, who were expected to benefit under the Year's Science Programme, the principal target groups for the Year's broader messages were:
Decision makers and politicians, to better inform them about the how Earth scientific knowledge can be used for sustainable development
The voting public, to communicate to them how Earth scientific knowledge can contribute to a better society
Geoscientists, to help them use their knowledge of various aspects of the Earth for the benefit of the world’s population.
The research themes of the year, set out in ten science prospectuses, were chosen for their societal relevance, multidisciplinary nature, and outreach potential. The Year had twelve founding partners, 23 associate partners, and was backed politically by 97 countries representing 87% of the world’s population. The Year was promoted politically at UNESCO and at the United Nations in New York by the People’s Republic of Tanzania.
The Year encouraged contributions from researchers within ten separate themes. The outreach programme worked in a similar way, receiving bids for support from individuals and organisations worldwide.
The Year's Project Leader was former IUGS President Professor Eduardo F J de Mulder. The Year's Science Committee was chaired by Professor Edward Derbyshire (Royal Holloway) and its Outreach Committee by Dr Ted Nield (Geological Society of London).
The International Year of Planet Earth project was initiated jointly by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). The UN press release reads: "By a draft on the International Year of Planet Earth, 2008, which the Committee approved without a vote on 11 November, the Assembly would declare 2008 the International Year of Planet Earth. It would also designate the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to organize activities to be undertaken during the Year, in collaboration with UNEP and other relevant United Nations bodies, the International Union of Geological Sciences and other Earth sciences societies and groups throughout the world. Also by that draft, the Assembly would encourage Member States, the United Nations system and other actors to use the Year to increase awareness of the importance of Earth sciences in achieving sustainable development and promoting local, national, regional and international action."
Reduce risks for society caused by natural and human-induced hazards, reduce health problems by improving understanding of the medical aspects of Earth science, discover new natural resources and make them available in a sustainable manner, build safer structures and expand urban areas, utilizing natural subsurface conditions, determine the non-human factor in climatic change, enhance understanding of the occurrence of natural resources so as to contribute to efforts to reduce political tension, detect deep and poorly accessible groundwater resources, improve understanding of the evolution of life, increase interest in the Earth sciences in society at large, encourage more young people to study Earth science in university.
As part of the IYPE legacy, 80 National and Regional IYPE Committees were set up to bring together key figures from various organisations into a single campaign dedicated to raising awareness of the Earth sciences among decision makers and the public.
The Young Earth-Science Initiative (YES) was also created, providing a platform for young professionals in the Earth sciences. Initiated by two Italian geoscientists, David Govoni and Luca Micucci, it started in 2007 and grew rapidly at the Global Launch Event of the IYPE in Paris in 2008, during which many young geoscientists were invited to participate. From there, the YES Initiative expanded, eventually adopting a formal structure, a network of supporting organisations (including IYPE) and an invitation by the Chinese government to host the first International YES Conference in October 2009 in Beijing.
An international collaborative project known as OneGeology was launched, aiming to bring together geological data from all nations into a digital database and thus transform them into a single computer language, providing free access to the online digital geological world map in the scale of 1:1 million. That initiative, spearheaded by Ian Jackson of the British Geological Survey, came under the IYPE banner in 2007.
American International Group, Inc., also known as AIG, is an American multinational insurance corporation with operations in more than 80 countries and jurisdictions. As of December 31, 2016, AIG companies employed 56,400 people.[5] The company operates through three core businesses: Consumer Insurance (49% of 2016 revenues), Commercial Insurance (43% of 2016 revenues), and Other Operations (8% of 2016 revenues).[6] Commercial Insurance includes Liability and Financial Lines and Property and Speciality Risks. Consumer Insurance includes Individual Retirement, Group Retirement, Life Insurance, and Personal Insurance. Other Operations includes run off insurance lines and legacy investments.[6]
AIG's corporate headquarters are in New York City and the company also has offices around the world. AIG serves 87% of the Fortune Global 500 and 83% of the Forbes 2000.[7] AIG was ranked 49th on the 2016 Fortune 500 list.[8]According to the 2016 Forbes Global 2000 list, AIG is the 87th largest public company in the world.[9] On December 31, 2016 AIG had $76.3 billion in shareholder equity.[10]
AIG was a central player in the financial crisis of 2008. It was bailed out by the federal government for $180 billion, and the government took control. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) of the US government concluded AIG failed primarily because it sold massive amounts of insurance without hedging its investment. Its enormous sales of credit default swaps were made without putting up initial collateral, setting aside capital reserves, or hedging its exposure — a profound failure in corporate governance, particularly its risk-management practices."[11]
AIG traces its roots back to 1919, when American Cornelius Vander Starr (1892-1968) established a general insurance agency, American Asiatic Underwriters (AAU), in Shanghai, China.[12] Business grew rapidly, and two years later, Starr formed a life insurance operation.[13] By the late 1920s, AAU had branches throughout China and Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.[14] In 1926, Mr. Starr opened his first office in the United States, American International Underwriters Corporation (AIU).[15] He also focused on opportunities in Latin America and, in the late 1930s, AIU entered Havana, Cuba.[16] The steady growth of the Latin American agencies proved significant as it would offset the decline in business from Asia due to the impending World War II.[12] In 1939, Mr. Starr moved his headquarters from Shanghai, China, to New York City.[17][18]
International and domestic expansion: 1946 to 1959[edit]
After World War II, American International Underwriters (AIU) entered Japan[12] and Germany,[19] to provide insurance for American military personnel. Throughout the late 1940s and early 1950s, AIU continued to expand in Europe, with offices opening in France, Italy,[14]and the United Kingdom.[20] In 1952, Mr. Starr began to focus on the American market by acquiring Globe & Rutgers Fire Insurance Company and its subsidiary, American Home Fire Assurance Company.[21] By the end of the decade, C.V. Starr's general and life insurance organization included an extensive network of agents and offices in over 75 countries.[21]
Reorganization and specialization: 1960 to 1979[edit]
In 1960, C.V. Starr hired Maurice R. Greenberg to develop an international accident and health business.[22] Two years later, Mr. Greenberg reorganized one of C.V. Starr’s U.S. holdings into a successful multiple line carrier.[21] Greenberg focused on selling insurance through independent brokers rather than agents to eliminate agent salaries. Using brokers, AIU could price insurance according to its potential return even if it suffered decreased sales of certain products for great lengths of time with very little extra expense. In 1967, American International Group, Inc. (AIG) was incorporated as a unifying umbrella organization for most of C.V. Starr’s general and life insurance businesses.[23] In 1968, Starr named Greenberg his successor. The company went public in 1969.[24]
AIG Headquarters in New York
The 1970s presented many challenges for AIG as operations in the Middle East and Southeast Asia were curtailed or ceased altogether due to the changing political landscape. However, AIG continued to expand its markets by introducing specialized energy, transportation, and shipping products to serve the needs of niche industries.[25] By 1979, with a growing workforce and a worldwide network of offices, AIG offered clients superior technical and risk management skills in an increasingly competitive marketplace.[25]
New opportunities and directions: 1980 to 1999[edit]
During the 1980s, AIG continued expanding its market distribution and worldwide network by offering a wide range of specialized products, including pollution liability[25] and political risk.[25] In 1984, AIG listed its shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).[26] Throughout the 1990s, AIG developed new sources of income through diverse investments, including the acquisition of International Lease Finance Corporation (ILFC), a provider of leased aircraft to the airline industry.[12] In 1992, AIG received the first foreign insurance license granted in over 40 years by the Chinese government. Within the U.S., AIG acquired SunAmerica Inc. a retirement savings company, in 1999.[27]
The early 2000s saw a marked period of growth as AIG acquired American General Corporation, a leading domestic life insurance and annuities provider,[28] and AIG entered new markets including India.[29] In February 2000, AIG created a strategic advisory venture team with the Blackstone Group and Kissinger Associates "to provide financial advisory services to corporations seeking high level independent strategic advice."[30] AIG was an investor in Blackstone from 1998 to March 2012, when it sold all of its shares in the company. Blackstone acted as an adviser for AIG during the 2007-2008 financial crisis.[31]
In November 2004, AIG reached a US$126 million settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department partly resolving a number of regulatory matters, but the company must still cooperate with investigators continuing to probe the sale of a non-traditional insurance product.[32]
On May 1, 2005, investigations conducted by outside counsel at the request of AIG's Audit Committee and the consultation with AIG's independent auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP resulted in AIG's decision to restate its financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2003, 2002, 2001 and 2000, the quarters ended March 31, June 30 and September 30, 2004 and 2003 and the quarter ended December 31, 2003.[37] On November 9, 2005, the company was said to have delayed its third-quarter earnings report because it had to restate earlier financial results, to correct accounting errors.[38]
Expansion to the credit default insurance market[edit]
Martin J. Sullivan became CEO of the company in 2005. He began his career at AIG as a clerk in its London office in 1970.[39] AIG then took on tens of billions of dollars of risk associated with mortgages. It insured tens of billions of dollars of derivatives against default, but did not purchase reinsurance to hedge that risk. Secondly, it used collateral on deposit to buy mortgage-backed securities. When losses hit the mortgage market in 2007-2008, AIG had to pay out insurance claims and also replace the losses in its collateral accounts.[40]
AIG purchased the remaining 39% that it did not own of online auto insurance specialist 21st Century Insurance in 2007 for $749 million.[41] With the failure of the parent company and the continuing recession in late 2008, AIG rebranded its insurance unit to 21st Century Insurance.[42][43]
On June 11, 2008, three stockholders, collectively owning 4% of the outstanding stock of AIG, delivered a letter to the Board of Directors of AIG seeking to oust CEO Martin Sullivan and make certain other management and Board of Directors changes. This letter was the latest volley in what The Wall Street Journal called a "public spat" between the company's board and management, on the one hand, and its key stockholders, and former CEO Maurice Greenberg on the other hand.[44]
On June 15, 2008, after disclosure of financial losses and subsequent to a falling stock price, Sullivan resigned and was replaced by Robert B. Willumstad, Chairman of the AIG Board of Directors since 2006. Willumstad was forced by the US government to step down and was replaced by Ed Liddy on September 17, 2008.[45]AIG's board of directors named Bob Benmosche CEO on August 3, 2009, to replace Mr. Liddy, who earlier in the year announced his retirement.[46]
AIG faced the most difficult financial crisis in its history when a series of events unfolded in late 2008. AIG was bailed out by the federal government for $180 billion, and the government took control. The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC) made the major government study of the crisis. It concluded in January 2011:
The Commission concludes AIG failed and was rescued by the government primarily because its enormous sales of credit default swaps were made without putting up the initial collateral, setting aside capital reserves, or hedging its exposure – a profound failure in corporate governance, particularly its risk management practices. AIG's failure was possible because of the sweeping deregulation of over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, including credit default swaps, which effectively eliminated federal and state regulation of these products, including capital and margin requirements that would have lessened the likelihood of AIG's failure.[11][47][48]
AIG had sold credit protection through its London unit in the form of credit default swaps (CDSs) on collateralized debt obligations (CDOs) but they had declined in value.[49][50] The AIG Financial Products division, headed by Joseph Cassano, in London, had entered into credit default swaps to insure $441 billion worth of securities originally rated AAA. Of those securities, $57.8 billion were structured debt securities backed by subprime loans.[49][51] As a result, AIG’s credit rating was downgraded and it was required to post additional collateral with its trading counter-parties, leading to a liquidity crisis that began on September 16, 2008, and essentially bankrupted all of AIG. The United States Federal Reserve Bank stepped in, announcing the creation of a secured credit facility of up to US$85 billion to prevent the company's collapse, enabling AIG to deliver additional collateral to its credit default swap trading partners. The credit facility was secured by the stock in AIG-owned subsidiaries in the form of warrants for a 79.9% equity stake in the company and the right to suspend dividends to previously issued common and preferred stock.[52][53][54] The AIG board accepted the terms of the Federal Reserve rescue package that same day, making it the largest government bailout of a private company in U.S. history.[55][56]
On March 17, 2009, AIG announced that they were paying $165 million in executive bonuses, prompting the AIG bonus payments controversy. Total bonuses for the financial unit could reach $450 million and bonuses for the entire company could reach $1.2 billion. President Barack Obama, who voted for TARP as a Senator[57]responded to the planned payments by saying "[I]t's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less $165 million in extra pay. How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?"[58] Politicians on both sides of the Congressional aisle reacted with outrage to the planned bonuses. Political commentators and journalists expressed an equally bipartisan outrage.[citation needed]
Due to the Q3 2011 net loss widening, on November 3, 2011, AIG shares plunged 49 percent year to date. The insurer's board approved a share buyback of as much as $1 billion.[59]
AIG since September 2008 marketed its assets to pay off its government loans. A global decline in the valuation of insurance businesses, and the weakening financial condition of potential bidders, challenged its efforts.[60] AIG closed on the sale of its Hartford Steam Boiler unit on March 31, 2009, to Munich Re for $742 million, which was announced December 22, 2008.[61][62] On April 16, 2009, AIG announced plans to sell 21st Century Insurance subsidiary to Farmers Insurance Group for $1.9 billion.[63] June 10, 2009. AIG sold down its majority ownership of reinsurer Transatlantic Re.[64]The Wall Street Journal reported on September 7, 2009, that Pacific Century Group had agreed to pay $500 million for a part of American International Group's asset management business, and that they also expected to pay an additional $200 million to AIG in carried interest and other payments linked to future performance of the business.[65]
AIG agreed in March 2010 to sell its American Life Insurance Co. (ALICO) to MetLife Inc. for $15.5 billion in cash and MetLife stock.[66]Bloomberg L.P. reported on March 29 that after almost three months of delays, AIG had completed the $500 million sale of a portion of its asset management business, branded PineBridge Investments, to the Asia-based Pacific Century Group.[67]Fortress Investment Group purchased 80% of the interest in financing company American General Financein August 2010.[68] AIG in September sold AIG Starr and AIG Edison, two of its Japan-based companies, to Prudential Financial for $4.2 billion in cash and $600 million in assumption of third party AIG debt by Prudential.[69][69] On November 1, AIG announced it has raised $36.71 billion from both the sale of ALICO and its IPO of AIA. Proceeds go specifically to pay off FRB of New York loan.[70]
In October 2010 the WSJ reported that a family sued AIG for alleged complicity in a 'stranger-originated life insurance' scheme, whereby AIG managers allegedly welcomed people without an insurable interest to take out life insurance policies against others. The case involved JB Carlson and Germaine Tomlinson, and was one of many similar lawsuits in the US at the time.[71]
It was reported in January 2011, that AIG sold its Taiwanese life insurance company, Nan Shan Life, to a consortium of buyers for $2.16 billion.[72]
On May 7, 2012, the United States Department of the Treasury announced an offering of 188.5 million shares of AIG for a total of $5.8 billion. The sale reduced Treasury’s stake in AIG to 61 percent, from 70 percent before the transaction.[73]
On September 6, 2012, AIG sold $2 billion of its investment in AIA to repay government loans. The board also approved a $5 billion stock repurchase of government-owned shares in AIA.[74]
On September 14, 2012, the Department of Treasury completed its fifth sale of AIG common stock, with proceeds of approximately $20.7 billion, reducing the Treasury’s ownership stake in AIG to approximately 15.9 percent from 53 percent. Government commitments were fully recovered, and Treasury and the FRBNY to date had received a combined positive return of approximately $15.1 billion.[75]
On October 12, 2012, AIG announced a five and a half year agreement to sponsor six New Zealand-based rugby teams, including world champion All Blacks. The AIG logo and the Adidas logo, the league’s primary sponsor, will be displayed on the league’s team jerseys.[76]
The U.S. Department of the Treasury in December 2012 published an itemized list of the loans, stock purchases, special purpose vehicles (SPVs) and other investments engaged in with AIG, the amount AIG paid back and the positive return on the loans and investments to the government.[77] Treasury said that it and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York provided a total $182.3 billion to AIG, which paid back a total $205 billion, for a total positive return, or profit, to the government of $22.7 billion. In addition, AIG sold off a number of its own assets to raise money to pay back the government.
On December 14, 2012, the Treasury Department sold the last of its AIG stock in its sixth stock stale for a total of approximately $7.6 billion. In total, the Treasury Department realized a gain of more than $22 billion from the sale of AIG common stock and $0.9 billion from the sale of AIG preferred stock.[78][79]
AIG began an advertising campaign on January 1, 2013, called "Thank You America," in which several company employees, including AIG President and CEO Robert Benmosche, talked directly to the camera and offered their thanks for the government assistance.[80]
In June 2015, Taiwan’s Nan Shan Life Insurance acquired a stake in AIG’s subsidiary in Taiwan for a fee of $158 million.[81]
In 2016, AIG announced a joint venture with Hamilton Insurance Group and Two Sigma Investments to serve as insurance needs for small- to medium-sized enterprises. Industry veteran Brian Duperreault will be the chairman of the new entity, and Richard Friesenhahn, the executive vice president of U.S. casualty lines at AIG, will be CEO.[83]
In August 2016, AIG announced the sale of United Guaranty, its mortgage-guarantee unit, to Arch Capital Group, a Bermuda-based insurer, for $3.4 billion.[84]
In January 2013, AIG's board discussed joining a lawsuit against the United States government because the bailout they received was unfair to their investors.[85]The idea was rejected.[86] AIG was criticized, however, when news stories soon appeared that it was considering joining a lawsuit brought by AIG shareholders and former CEO Maurice R. Greenberg against the New York Federal Reserve Bank for what the plaintiffs considered unfair terms imposed on AIG by the New York Fed. The AIG board announced on January 9, 2013, that the company would not join the lawsuit, and on January 9, 2013, Bob Benmosche told CNBC’s Maria Bartiromo that it would not be “socially acceptable” for AIG to sue the government, continuing that while people may be angry, "a deal’s a deal."[87][88]
The specific issue was whether the New York Federal Reserve transferred $18 billion in litigation claims on troubled mortgage debt through the Maiden Lane Transactions, entities created by the Fed in 2008, and thus prevented AIG from recouping losses from insured banks. On May 7, 2013, Los Angeles U.S. District Judge, Mariana Pfaelzer, ruled that $7.3 billion of the disputed claims had, in fact, not been assigned. AIG withdrew the case "with prejudice" on May 28, 2013. Praelzer was overseeing a suit between AIG and Bank of America (BAC-US) concerning possible misrepresentations by Merrill Lynch and Countrywide as to the quality of the mortgage portfolio. In signing the order closing the case, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan who also adjudicated the Maiden Lane case, American International Group Inc. et al. v. Maiden Lane II LLC, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 13-00951 admonished the Fed saying, "On the face of it" some of its actions "perhaps are unattractive and, indeed, wrongful.”[89]
However, Judge Wheeler did not award monetary compensation to the plaintiffs ruling that they did not suffer economic damage because "if the government had done nothing, the shareholders would have been left with 100 percent of nothing."[95] Both parties appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The New York Fed volunteered an amicus brief arguing that “Apart from an erroneous interpretation of a federal statute, the trial court’s opinion is riddled with material, clearly erroneous findings of fact.”[96]
In the United States, AIG is the largest underwriter of commercial and industrial insurance.[98]
AIG offers property casualty insurance, life insurance, retirement products, mortgage insurance and other financial services.[99] In the third quarter of 2012, the global property-and-casualty insurance business, Chartis, was renamed AIG Property Casualty. SunAmerica, life-insurance and retirement-services division, was renamed AIG Life and Retirement, other existing brands continue to be used in certain geographies and market segments.[99][100]
Jump up^"80 Years of Growth and Diversification; the AIG Story". Business Insurance. April 12, 1999.
Jump up^Collins, Stuart (May 28, 2003). "Greenberg Hails London Role". Insurance Day.
^ Jump up to:abcEhrbar, Al (2006). Fallen Giant The Amazing Story of Hank Greenberg and the History of AIG. Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. pp. 82–83 and 91. ISBN0-471-91696-X.
Jump up^"Greenberg Joining C.V. Starr & Co. in Development Capacity". Insurance Advocate. December 17, 1960.
Jump up^Bowers, Barbara (August 1998). "Building a Global Platform". Best’s Review/Life-Health Edition.
Jump up^Andrews, Edmund L.; de la Merced, Michael J.; Williams Walsh, Mary (September 16, 2008). "Fed's $85 billion Loan Rescues Insurer". The New York Times. Archived from the original on April 30, 2011. Retrieved September 17,2008.
Jump up^Maurice R. Greenberg and Lawrence A. Cunningham, The AIG Story (2013)
"Losses in Perspective" New York Times. September 17, 2008. (Graphic of AIG quarterly net profit & losses over five years, comparing Finance vs. Insurance activities.)
Marsh, Bill (September 28, 2008). "A Tally of Federal Rescues". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2008. Retrieved September 28, 2008.
Schneiderman, R.M; Caulfield, Philip; Fang, Celena; Goodridge, Elisabeth; Bajaj, Vikas (September 15, 2008). "How a Market Crisis Unfolded: Some of the key events in the upheaval". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 16, 2008. Retrieved September 17, 2008. (Graphic and interactive timeline.)
Shelp, Ron (2006). Fallen Giant: The Amazing Story of Hank Greenberg and the History of AIG. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. ISBN0-471-91696-X.
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