Munich Re Not Implicated in AIG Probe

Munich Re, the world's leading reinsurer, is "not one of the accused" in the current fraud probe against beleaguered US insurer American International Group (AIG), the head of the German group Nikolaus von Bomhard said Friday. "We're not one of the accused in the probe," von Bomhard told a news conference here. But asked whether Munich Re might eventually become the object of the investigation as well at some point, he replied: "One never knows that." Munich Re officials met earlier this week with members of New York district attorney Eliot Spitzer's staff as "part of an ongoing consultation" in connection the AIG probe. But the German group declined to comment on the content or outcome of the talks. US regulators are trying to find out whether AIG, the world's biggest insurance group, used complex transactions to improperly smooth earnings and bolster its capital. The troubles precipitated the departure of chief executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg at the end of March after almost 40 years at the helm of AIG. AIG has admitted that part of its allegedly improper accounting involved previously unknown links to two offshore reinsurers, one of which is Bermuda-based Richmond Insurance, 49-percent owned by Munich Re. (AFP)