A preliminary inquiry is being undertaken into the operations of AIGFP in the UK. AIGFP is a  non insurance subsidiary of AIG and investigations will not touch upon the insurance operations of AIG in the UK or elsewhere.

Richard Alderman, the Director of the SFO, said:

“It is right for us to look into the UK operations of AIGFP, to determine if there has been criminal conduct. We will use our full range of powers to seek information and to speak to those with an inside knowledge of the company’s operations.”

It is in intended that the investigation will be a collaborative effort. The SFO will be cooperating with US authorities. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice have been conducting separate, independent investigations involving conduct at AIGFP for a while.

It is has also been announced that the FSA will be involved in investigations too.