The US Securities and Exchange Commission has revealed that it has obtained a court order to prevent AIG, its former boss and an associate company from destroying or withholding documentation relating to its investigations into AIG accounting anomalies.
The court order, issued by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, provides the SEC with the power to take any documents being held by Maurice Greenberg, the former AIG CEO, C.V. Starr and AIG itself.
The move from the US authorities comes in the wake of reports from AIG’s new chief executive, Martin Sullivan that sensitive documentation held in AIG’s Bermuda office had been either removed or destroyed.
The order states that the named parties must not interfering with the ability of the (SEC) to obtain any and all documents in their possession or control. The court ruling also spells out the authorization to attain relevant documents located outside the US.
The action taken to secure the documentation follows on from the recent issuing of subpoenas to the three named parties, of which Maurice Greenberg has said he will respond to despite being advised to take the Fifth Amendment.