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To: SI Dave who wrote (10453)	10/8/2008 3:35:11 PM
From: scion	Respond to of 12465

AIG, Castigated for Resort Event, Plans Another One Next Week By Erik Holm and Hugh Son bloomberg.com Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc., castigated by lawmakers for hosting a $440,000 conference days after an $85 billion federal bailout, plans to hold another gathering for brokers next week. The event, at the Ritz-Carlton in California's Half Moon Bay, aims to ``motivate and educate'' about 150 independent agents who sell AIG coverage to high-end clients, said spokesman Nicholas Ashooh. ``These sorts of sales meetings are an essential function,'' he said. ``We have them around the world all the time.'' The White House, Congress and Barack Obama have lashed out at AIG for ``wining and dining'' executives at a weeklong conference last month at the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino today called ``despicable'' expenses that included $23,000 for spa services, according to Representative Henry Waxman chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. President George W. Bush didn't push for the bailout ``to help top executives go to a spa,'' Perino said today at the daily White House briefing. AIG Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy, who replaced former CEO Robert Willumstad as a condition of the federal loan, today told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the company intends to reevaluate expenses. `$400,000 Junket' ``We understand that our company is now facing very different challenges,'' Liddy wrote in a letter to Paulson. ``We owe our employees and the American public new standards and approaches.'' Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, said during last night's debate with Republican candidate John McCain that AIG should repay the U.S. Treasury for the costs of the event. ``AIG, a company that got a bailout, just a week after they got help, went on a $400,000 junket,'' Obama said. ``And I tell you what: the Treasury should demand that money back and those executives should be fired.'' In his letter to Paulson, Liddy said the gathering was planned ``many months'' before the Federal Reserve's loan to AIG. Next week's meeting was also planned before the loan, spokesman Ashooh said. ``This sort of gathering has been standard practice in our industry for many years,'' Liddy wrote. ``Let me assure you that we are reevaluating the costs of all aspects of our operations in light of the new circumstances in which we are all operating.'' About 50 AIG employees will also attend the Half Moon Bay meeting. Ashooh said he didn't know the cost of the event or how long it would last. This meeting has more of an educational component than the St. Regis meeting, he said. Receipts provided by Waxman for the earlier conference at the St. Regis were dated Sept. 22 through Sept. 30. AIG agreed to the $85 billion loan from the government on Sept. 16, ceding a 79.9 percent ownership interest to the U.S. government. To contact the reporter on this story: Erik Holm in New York at eholm2@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: October 8, 2008 14:26 EDT bloomberg.com