What Can We Learn from AIG’s Collapse?

Abstract

AIG’s failure in the subprime crisis carries significant implications for financial regulators, especially the Chinese regulators, who are deregulating the insurance sector and considering the development of a credit derivatives market in the country. Regulatory loopholes allowed AIG to stray away from its core business; notably into the credit default swaps (CDS) business that triggered its failure. Assetliability mismatch in AIG’s securities lending programme worsened its liquidity problem, turning it into a solvency problem. The moral of the story is that insurance companies must not be tempted to maximise short-term profit; risk control is of paramount importance to avoid an AIG fate.