American International Group Inc., one of the world's biggest insurance companies, is considering a move to clean up suspected accounting mistakes that may total as much as $3 billion from as many as 30 insurance transactions, The Wall Street Journal reported in Friday's editions.
The Journal, citing unidentified sources familiar with the case, said potentially problematic accounting now being examined is far broader than was believed just a week ago.
AIG has yet to assess an additional 60 transactions that internal investigators have identified as possibly problematic, one person familiar with the matter told the Journal. A number of senior AIG executives were aware of many of these transactions, which could subject them to regulatory scrutiny, the source told the newspaper.
Chris Winans, an AIG spokesman , told the newspaper the company had no comment.
Last week, questions over AIG's accounting of an insurance transaction with a Berkshire Hathaway Inc. unit led to the ouster of Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg as AIG's chief executive after nearly four decades at the helm. Investigators continue to examine whether AIG misled investors by manipulating its books.
This week, AIG, which has pledged to cooperate with investigators, fired its chief financial officer and a senior reinsurance executive after they decided not to answer some questions on the grounds that their answers might be self-incriminating.
Though it's unclear how AIG might account for its mistakes, even a multibillion-dollar charge against earnings likely wouldn't damage its long-term financial stability, the Journal said. The company posted income of $11.04 billion last year on revenue of $98.61 billion.
