The survival of AIG, one of the world's largest insurers, depended on the US government yesterday after hopes of private sector bail-out appeared to have faded.
Regulators and company executives held a fresh round of emergency meetings at the New York Federal Reserve amid fears that the collapse of the troubled insurer would further destabilise the global financial system.
The talks took on renewed urgency after a series of sharp credit rating cuts on Monday sent AIG's shares into a further tailspin and its debt traded at highly distressed level. Amid increasingly desperate lobbying for government help, David Paterson, New York's governor, said the beleaguered insurer had “one day” to solve its problems.