AIG's Benmosche Tells Employees He Plans To Remain

STEPHEN BERNARD

NEW YORK (AP) — American International Group Inc.'s CEO Robert Benmosche said Wednesday he plans to stay in his job at the embattled insurer.

Benmosche announced his intentions in a letter to employees released by AIG following a report in The Wall Street Journal saying he was threatening to quit. The Journal said Benmosche has been frustrated by heavy government scrutiny and cumbersome restrictions on executive pay.

In the letter, Benmosche said that while he was frustrated by the regulatory oversight, he and the board of directors "remain totally committed to leading AIG through its challenges and to continuing to fight on your behalf."

AIG is in the process of trying to sell assets, streamline its operations and improve profitability in an effort to repay the government after being bailed out last fall at the peak of the credit crisis.

New York-based AIG received an aid package worth up to $180 billion from the government in exchange for an 80 percent stake in the company. That bailout package also includes restrictions on compensation for the insurer's 100 highest-paid employees.