American International Group has fired two senior members of staff, including its CFO, for not co-operating with a US authority's investigations into possible inappropriate conduct at the company, according to press reports.

US regulators are currently investigating whether AIG used its finite risk reinsurance business to manipulate company financial statements to deceive shareholders. Smith and Milton were dismissed after invoking their Fifth Amendment rights against possible self-incrimination, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

Chief financial officer Howard Smith, and Christian Milton, a vice president for reinsurance, were sacked for failing to comply with AIG policy that requires employees to cooperate with government authorities on matters regarding the company, an AIG spokesman said.

The news continues a depressing trend for the insurance titan, which lost its long term CEO, Maurice Greenberg, only last week and has been embroiled in scandal for several months. Now the company may face the potentially damaging necessity of having to re-state financial accounts.