New York, NY: All persons or entities who purchased or otherwise acquired publicly-traded securities issued by American International Group, Inc. ("AIG") during the period from October 28, 1999, through April 1, 2005, inclusive, (the "Class Period") and who were damaged thereby:
You are hereby notified that in the above-captioned action (the "Action") the Court has preliminarily certified a settlement class for purposes of a proposed partial settlement only and that the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio and Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (collectively, "Lead Plaintiff") and Maurice R. Greenberg ("Greenberg"), Howard I. Smith ("Smith"), Christian M. Milton, Michael J. Castelli, C.V. Starr & Co., Inc., and Starr International Company, Inc. (collectively, "the Starr Defendants") have entered into a proposed partial settlement (the "Settlement") consisting of $115 million in cash, plus interest as it accrues.
A hearing will be held on June 28, 2012, to determine whether the proposed Settlement with the Starr Defendants should be approved by the Court as fair, reasonable and adequate, to consider final certification of the proposed Settlement Class, to consider the application of Lead Plaintiff's Counsel for attorneys' fees and reimbursement of litigation expenses and to consider the application of Lead Plaintiff for the reimbursement of costs and expenses. The Court may change the date of the hearing without providing additional notice to Class Members.
IF YOU PURCHASED OR ACQUIRED AIG SECURITIES DURING THE CLASS PERIOD DESCRIBED ABOVE, YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE AFFECTED BY THE SETTLEMENT AND YOU MAY BE ENTITLED TO SHARE IN THE SETTLEMENT PROCEEDS.
Submitting a Claim
If you are a member of the Settlement Class and did not submit a Proof of Claim in connection with the previously-announced settlements with defendant PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (the "PwC Settlement") and/or defendant American International Group, Inc. (the "Company Settlement"), in order to be eligible to share in the distribution of the net proceeds of the Settlement, you must submit a Proof of Claim no later than June 4, 2012, establishing that you are entitled to a recovery.
This is also the deadline for submitting a new Proof of Claim if you did not include all Class Period transactions on your PwC or Company Proof of Claim that you would like considered in the calculation of your claim in this Settlement with the Starr Defendants.
If you are a member of the Settlement Class and already filed a complete Proof of Claim in the PwC and/or Company Settlements, you must submit a Release Form no later than June 4, 2012. You will be bound by any judgment entered in the Action whether or not you make a Claim or submit a Release Form.
If you have not yet received the Notice of Proposed Settlement, Motion for Attorneys' Fees and Expenses Award and Fairness Hearing (the "Notice"), Proof of Claim form and/or Release Form, you may obtain copies of these documents from: AIGSecuritiesLitigationStarrSettlement.com.
To learn about how an action filed by the New York Attorney General against Starr Defendants Greenberg and Smith could potentially affect Class Members, and how the Settlement with the Starr Defendants could impact the claims in the action filed by the New York Attorney General, please review the Notice.
Exclusion
If you desire to be excluded from the Settlement Class, you must file a request for exclusion by May 25, 2012, in the manner and form explained in the Notice. If you request exclusion from the Settlement Class and later seek to pursue your own action against the Starr Defendants and to obtain discovery taken by Lead Plaintiff's Counsel (such as deposition transcripts), then Lead Plaintiff will in all likelihood seek to file a motion with the District Court to obtain advance payment of reasonable compensation for the Settlement Class for the costs (including the value of Lead Plaintiff's Counsel's time, i.e. "lodestar") related to such discovery. All members of the Settlement Class who do not request exclusion will be bound by any judgment entered in the Action.
Objections
Any objection to the proposed Settlement, Plan of Allocation, application for attorneys' fees and reimbursement of litigation expenses or the cost and expense application of Lead Plaintiff must be filed with the Court and delivered to counsel for the parties no later than May 25, 2012, at the address provided in, and in the manner and form set forth in the Notice.
The Proposed Settlement
[1] Lead Plaintiff has entered into settlement agreements with all other defendants in the Action, which have a combined settlement value of $1.0095 billion. On December 2, 2010, the Court entered a judgment approving the $97.5 million settlement with AIG auditor PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. On February 3, 2012, the Court entered a judgment approving the $725 million settlement with defendant American International Group, Inc.
Finally, Lead Plaintiff has reached a proposed $72 million settlement with General Reinsurance Corporation ("Gen Re"). On September 10, 2010, the Court issued an Order dismissing the class claims against Gen Re. On October 21, 2010, Lead Plaintiff filed a notice of appeal from the Court's September 10th Order. On January 9, 2012, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit heard oral argument on the appeal.
