I'm an American taxpayer and I own you now so drop the tax lawsuit against me.
While Congress waxes contumely in tones of outrage over AIG executive bonuses, AIG itself is quietly suing the federal government for the return of $306 million in tax payments, some of which had much to do with deals that were conducted through offshore tax havens.
A.I.G. sued the government last month in a bid to force it to return the payments, which stemmed in large part from its use of aggressive tax deals, some involving entities controlled by the company’s financial products unit in the Cayman Islands, Ireland, the Dutch Antilles and other offshore havens.
A.I.G. is effectively suing its majority owner, the government, which has an 80 percent stake and has poured nearly $200 billion into the insurer in a bid to avert its collapse and avoid troubling the global financial markets. The company is in effect asking for even more money, in the form of tax refunds. The suit also suggests that A.I.G. is spending taxpayer money to pursue its case, something it is legally entitled to do. Its initial claim was denied by the Internal Revenue Service last year.
The lawsuit, filed on Feb. 27 in Federal District Court in Manhattan, details, among other things, certain tax-related dealings of the financial products unit, the once high-flying division that has been singled out for its role in A.I.G.’s financial crisis last fall. Other deals involved A.I.G. offshore entities whose function centers on executive compensation and include C. V. Starr & Company, a closely held concern controlled by Maurice R. Greenberg, A.I.G.’s former chairman, and the Starr International Company, a privately held enterprise incorporated in Panama, and commonly known as SICO.
http://www.nytimes.com/...
A.I.G.’s lawyers in the case are Sutherland Asbill & Brennan. Fire them. I'll be magnanimous and allow them to keep the retainer -- even if its on my tab.
Sutherland's net income might be crimped a bit but they've got bases in the most lucrative parts of the country:
Atlanta on Peachtree Street (travel hub of the south, home of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit), Austin in Austin Centre (nestled cozily near the governor and legislature of Texas and Texas regulatory agencies), Houston in Houston Center (corporate oil center of the U.S.), New York in the Grace Building (still home to a lot of corporate America), Washington, some seven blocks away from the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue (so nice to be able to mosey down to see Dubya at a moment's notice -- when he wasn't in Texas).
See?
Sutherland is pretty nicely covered in oil and Exxon/Mobil et al sure isn't hurting at the moment.
Also, some C.V. Starr & Company and Starr International Company (nicely domiciled in Panama) notes:
C.V. Starr subdivides into Starr Underwriting Agencies LLC, which subdivides into several of the nation's leading managing underwriters; and Starr Investment Group with investment professionals in New York, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Moscow. worldwide, and to identify smart investments that generate value for C. V. Starr investors.
And, here's a juicy little tidbit about Starr Intl from 2005:
American International Group Inc. has asked a court to force a company led by its former chief executive, Maurice R. Greenberg, to relinquish nearly $18 billion in stock set up to benefit AIG executives.
.... The claim was made in response to a lawsuit in which Starr International demanded the return of $15 million in art it had allowed AIG to display in its offices before Greenberg was forced out as the company's chief executive officer in March. Greenberg resigned as CEO and chairman of the company amid widening federal and state probes of accounting irregularities.
In May, AIG restated financial results for the last five years, lowering its profits by nearly $4 billion and acknowledging accounting improprieties, including "improper or inappropriate transactions," some apparently intended to deceive regulators.
AIG said Starr has recently indicated it planned to discontinue a deferred compensation program for about 700 AIG employees.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/...
Note to self: See what the knowledgeable Insurance Journal has to say about the present AIG debacle.