AIG to sell foreign units

American International Group announced on Friday that it plans to sell off a number of its foreign units to pay off a government loan, and focus on insurance operations. It may result in selling of AIG Bank in Poland. Dagmara Cybruch, spokesperson of AIG Bank Polska said on TVN CNBC Biznes that the bank is prepared for this scenario; assuring customer's that their deposits are safe.

Bank Gospodarski Żywnościowej (BGŻ) was named as one of the candidates for buying AIG Bank Polska. Its CEO Jacek Bartkiewicz confirmed its interest in a would-be transaction in the media, but declined to give more details.

There are ten AIG daughter companies operating in Poland. Insurer Amplico AIG Life is most likely to remain in the hands of AIG central, as is AIG PTE that operates pension funds. At the end of September 2008, AIG had over 1.1 million pension accounts amounting to zł.11.5 billion.

AIG Bank Polska was established in 1998 by AIG Consumer Finance Group through buying out majority of shares in Bank Podlaski. At the end of August 2008, AIG Bank Polska's assets were over zł.8 billion, while its net profit was zł.193 million. Among other AIG Group companies in Poland there is an investment fund, securities firm, investment developing company, finance consulting firm, a company managing investment portfolios, and insurer of mortgages.

Sources: Puls Biznesu, TVN24