The insurance giant American International Group today announced a series of changes designed to streamline its sprawling operations, but stopped short of acceding to demands that it break up, the New York Times reported today. The company said that it would spin off 19.9 percent of United Guaranty, its mortgage guaranty business, sell its financial advisory business and create nine distinct operating units in its commercial and consumer divisions. The moves are intended to shore up financial performance and give AIG the flexibility to separate or sell businesses down the road. While the company is not ruling out more radical changes, “now is not the time to be shortsighted and simply react to the demands of those who challenge us,” AIG’s president and chief executive, Peter Hancock, said in a memorandum to employees today.
