Corporate Finance AIG Accounting Scandal Explained December 8th, 2012

Corporate Finance AIG Accounting Scandal Explained December 8th, 2012 ________________________________________________________________________________ On February 9th, 2006, the SEC and the Justice Department settled with AIG for an amount in excess of $1.6B related to alleged improper accounting, bid rigging (defined by Investopedia as a scheme in which businesses collude so that a competing business can secure a contract for goods or services at a pre-determined price), and practices involving workers compensation funds. Both the CEO and CFO of AIG were replaced amidst the scandal. This closure ended a 5-year period, beginning in 2001, which tarnished the 80-year old institution’s reputation that had become the world’s largest reinsurers, and included Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway as an owner. Several of fraud’s culprits were convicted of Conspiracy, Securities Fraud, False Statements to the SEC, and Mail Fraud. Each offender was handed various degrees of penalties, including jail sentences. AIG’s CEO Hank Greenberg was left unindicted and “pleading the 5th.” What led these executives down a path that would forever change their careers and left many convinced that corporations are willing to go to any extent to satisfy their greed for profits? This paper will examine the intricacies of AIG’s accounting fraud, and discuss the hypothesis that accounting fraud and other unethical decisions focused on short-term profits are positively correlated to long-term value destruction. "The corporate scandals are getting bigger and bigger. In a speech on Wall Street, President Bush spoke out on corporate responsibility, and he warned executives not to cook the books. Afterwards, Martha Stewart said the correct term was to sauté the books." —Conan O 'Brien While there are many techniques to distort the financial condition of a publicly traded company, the most frequent types of improprieties involve revenue recognition, cost or expense

recognition, accounting for reserves,

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