A firm run by former American International Group Inc. chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg said PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP should be forced to resign as AIG’s auditor because it can’t be objective about the insurer.
Greenberg’s C.V. Starr & Co., an AIG shareholder, petitioned the Securities and Exchange Commission to end the long-time relationship two years after New York- based AIG, the world’s biggest insurer, restated its financial results amid an accounting probe. Auditors must examine corporate financial statements submitted to the SEC, and the agency can sue companies and their auditors if it finds those reviews aren’t impartial.
C.V. Starr said PricewaterhouseCoopers has an “irreconcilable” conflict with AIG because earlier this year the insurer authorized a group of shareholders to pursue a lawsuit against the auditor, which they allege failed to identify accounting improprieties. AIG and PricewaterhouseCoopers said the auditor remains independent.
