U.S. officials are considering whether to remove federal oversight of insurer American International Group Inc., the Wall Street Journal reported today. The Financial Stability Oversight Council, a group of senior regulators, was set to discuss the matter at a meeting today. No final decision has been made, and the outcome of the discussion isn’t certain. It is possible the council could decide not to vote on the matter today, delaying the decision until a future meeting. Removing stricter oversight of AIG would be a symbolic step: The company was at the center of the global markets meltdown in 2008 and was effectively nationalized through a government bailout that topped $180 billion. That made it a poster child for financial excesses, and was one of the reasons for the creation of the oversight council in the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regulatory law. In 2013, the oversight council determined AIG posed a risk to the economy and designated it a “systemically important financial institution,” or SIFI. It was the first time the council had used its main Dodd-Frank power. The label subjects AIG to stricter oversight than it would otherwise face, including supervision by the Federal Reserve.
