Wilmington – Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn issued the following statement Tuesday regarding the financial crisis involving AIG family of insurance companies:

 

“I have been monitoring this situation and communicating extensively with representatives of AIG, with other state regulators and with the Delaware Department of Insurance’s regulatory staff. While the situation with AIG continues to evolve, there are a few things I want to convey to Delawareans.

 

“First, I am approaching this situation with the protection of Delaware’s AIG policyholders as my top priority.  I am also concerned with the large workforce that AIG has in Delaware.

 

“Second, it is important to state that the current crisis at AIG is a consequence of the financial difficulties of the non-insurance holding company of AIG, and not a result of failures at the AIG insurance companies.

 

“Third, while some insurance companies under the AIG umbrella are domiciled in Delaware and are regulated by our department, almost all of the policies held by Delawareans are issued by companies domiciled in and directly regulated by other state insurance departments.  That is why my staff and I have been in constant communication with the insurance regulators around the country.

 

“Fourth, should there be any requests from AIG involving the Delaware regulated companies, every decision that I make will be for the primary and exclusive purpose of assuring that every policyholder is protected to the fullest extent of the law.

 

“Fifth, Delawareans should be aware that, if it becomes necessary, the Delaware insurance guaranty funds are available to provide protection to injured policyholders.

 

“As I have indicated, this financial crisis obviously is much larger in scope than just Delaware; however, I will use every tool that I have to protect Delaware policyholders.”

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