Analysts Ponder Fate Of Insurance Giant

UBS Investment Research in Reaction put out a note Friday saying that according to investor relations, lawyers had advised AIG against the meetings, and "we suspect this was due to the high probability of regulatory-related client questions–on which AIG would not comment."

AIG activities are currently being examined by New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and U.S. Justice Department. The probes have involved AIG's involvement in alleged brokerage steering and bid-rigging as well as the company's involvement in transactions that investigators believe can be used to smooth out financial results.

An AIG company spokesperson, asked to respond to the UBS note, said he could not comment beyond the announcement of the postponement. A spokesperson for Goldman Sachs also declined to comment.

UBS wrote that it cautioned against reading anything into the postponement and said the company's action could not be used to gauge the direction of "pending regulatory matters."

UBS said it had requested a client conference call with Greenberg to discuss regulatory issues and was told, "it would be inappropriate to address regulatory issues with us."

Greenberg in the past in conference calls with analysts has been outspoken in defending his company and minimizing any damage from the efforts of investigators.

AIG's comments concerning regulatory matters have gotten the company into hot water in the past. In October 2004, AIG reported that the SEC had warned it was considering a lawsuit against AIG for putting out false and misleading press releases. One of the releases dealt with a notice stating that the U.S. Justice Department was making AIG the target of an investigation.