American International Group Inc.’s first and only chief risk officer will retire from the company. AIG Chief Executive Robert Benmosche told employees that Senior Vice President and Chief Risk Officer Robert E. Lewis had decided to retire.
The decision came a little more than three months after Lewis appeared before Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, an investigative panel convened by Congressional act to examine causes of the financial crisis.
Lewis told the commission that AIG had been blindsided by the crisis and found itself short on liquidity (BestWire, June 30, 2010). The near-collapse of the insurance giant triggered government involvement and resulted in a $182 billion taxpayer bailout.
“As it turned out, we were wrong about how bad things could get,” Lewis stated to the panel. “What happened was so extreme, it was beyond anything we had planned for.”
Attempts to reach Lewis were unsuccessful. AIG spokesman Mark Herr said the company would not comment on Lewis’ retirement beyond Benmosche’s memo to employees. A successor to Lewis will be named soon, and Lewis will remain with the company during a transitional period, the memo said.
Lewis joined AIG in 1993 as a vice president and chief credit officer and was part of the company’s early efforts to build a credit risk management function, according to the memo. In 2004, he was tapped by then CEO Maurice “Hank” Greenberg to become the company’s first chief risk officer, making Lewis responsible for identifying, evaluating and managing risk.
That role would land Lewis before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in June, seated between two notable players in the company’s near collapse — former AIG Financial Products Corp. CEO Joseph J. Cassano and former AIG CEO Martin J. Sullivan.
Benmosche has been reshaping the company’s management structure since taking over the company some 13 months ago. In February, he tapped Peter D. Hancock as executive vice president of finance, risk, and investments, a role that involves oversight of AIG Financial Products Corp. (BestWire, Feb. 8, 2010).
As of Sept. 20, AIG (NYSE: AIG) still owed the U.S. government about $128.2 billion in debt (BestWire, Sept. 20, 2010).
AIG stock was selling at $40.71 in morning trading on Oct. 6, up 1.95% from the previous close. Most AIG insurers have current Best’s Financial Strength Ratings of A (Excellent).
Source : Insurance News Net
