From Mr Maurice (“Hank”) Greenberg.

Sir, AIG needs a bridge loan, not a bail-out. The company faces a liquidity crisis, not a solvency problem. Its core insurance operations, both in the US and abroad, are financially sound, and it can raise more than $20bn though orderly asset sales. For these reasons, a bridge loan – from the federal government if sufficient private capital is not forthcoming – will not mean a bail-out. A temporary bridge loan will prevent further rating agency downgrades, which would require AIG to post billions of dollars in additional collateral, and which would likely prove fatal.