PROSPECTUS

$22,000,000,000

 

American International Group, Inc.

 

Debt Securities

Warrants

Purchase Contracts

Units

Junior Subordinated Debentures

Preferred Stock

Depositary Shares

Guarantees of Securities

 

Common Stock

(up to $16,459,681,000)

 

 

AIG Program Funding, Inc.

 

Debt Securities

Warrants

Purchase Contracts

Units

 

Fully and Unconditionally Guaranteed by

American International Group, Inc.

 

American International Group, Inc. (AIG) may offer to sell debt securities, warrants, purchase contracts, junior subordinated debentures, preferred stock, either separately or represented by depositary shares, and common stock, either individually or in units. The debt securities, warrants, purchase contracts and preferred stock may be convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common or preferred stock or other securities of AIG or debt or equity securities of one or more other entities. These debt securities, warrants, purchase contracts, junior subordinated debentures and preferred stock will have an initial public offering price or purchase price of up to $22,000,000,000, or will have the foreign currency or composite currency equivalent of such amount, and the common stock will have an initial public offering price of up to $16,459,681,000, although we may increase these amounts in the future. AIG’s common stock is listed on the NYSE and trades under the symbol “AIG”.

 

AIG Program Funding, Inc. (AIGPF) may offer to sell debt securities as well as warrants and purchase contracts, either individually or in units. The debt securities, warrants and purchase contracts may be convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for debt or equity securities of one or more other entities. These securities will have an initial public offering price or purchase price of up to $22,000,000,000 or will have the foreign currency or composite currency equivalent of this amount although we may increase this amount in the future. All amounts payable under these securities will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by American International Group, Inc. AIG is AIGPF’s ultimate parent corporation.

 

AIG and AIGPF may issue all or a portion of these securities in the form of one or more permanent global certificates.

 

This prospectus describes some of the general terms that may apply to these securities and the general manner in which they may be offered. The specific terms of any securities to be offered, and the specific manner in which they may be offered, will be described in a supplement to this prospectus.

 

Investing in the securities involves certain risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 90 to read about certain factors you should consider before buying the securities.

 

 

 

NEITHER THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION NOR ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION HAS APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED OF THESE SECURITIES OR DETERMINED IF THIS PROSPECTUS IS TRUTHFUL OR COMPLETE. ANY REPRESENTATION TO THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.

 

 

 

 

AIG and AIGPF may offer and sell these securities to or through one or more underwriters, dealers and agents, or directly to purchasers, on a continuous or delayed basis.

 

AIG and AIGPF may use this prospectus in the initial sale of these securities. In addition, AIG’s subsidiaries may use this prospectus in a market-making transaction involving any of these or similar securities after the initial sale. UNLESS WE OR OUR AGENT INFORM THE PURCHASER OTHERWISE IN THE CONFIRMATION OF SALE, THIS PROSPECTUS IS BEING USED IN A MARKET-MAKING TRANSACTION.

 

AIG FINANCIAL SECURITIES CORP.

 

The date of this prospectus is July 13, 2007.

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement or information contained in documents which you are referred to by this prospectus or any prospectus supplement. Neither AIG nor AIGPF has authorized anyone to provide you with information different from that contained in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement. AIG and AIGPF are offering to sell the securities only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information contained in this prospectus or any prospectus supplement is accurate only as of the date on the front of those documents, regardless of the time of delivery of the documents or any sale of the securities.

 

References to “us”, “we” or “our” in this section means American International Group, Inc., and/or AIG Program Funding, Inc., as applicable, as Issuers. This prospectus is part of a registration statement that we filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission utilizing a shelf registration process. Under this shelf process, we may sell the securities described in this prospectus in one or more offerings up to a total dollar amount of $22,000,000,000 (with the limitation that we may only sell common stock in an amount up to $16,459,681,000). This prospectus provides you with a general description of the securities we may offer.

 

Each time we sell securities, we will provide a prospectus supplement that will contain specific information about the terms of that offering. The prospectus supplement may also add, update or change information contained in this prospectus. You should read this prospectus and any prospectus supplement together with additional information described in the section entitled “Where You Can Find More Information.”

 

To see more detail, you should read our registration statement and the exhibits filed with our registration statement.

 

American International Group, Inc.
(Issuer and Guarantor)

 

AIG, a Delaware corporation, is a holding company which, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in a broad range of insurance and insurance-related activities in the United States and abroad. AIG’s principal executive offices are located at 70 Pine Street, New York, New York 10270, and its main telephone number is (212) 770-7000. The Internet address for AIG’s corporate website is www.aigcorporate.com. Except for the documents referred to under “Where You Can Find More Information” which are specifically incorporated by reference into this prospectus, information contained on AIG’s website or that can be accessed through its website does not constitute a part of this prospectus. AIG has included its website address only as an inactive textual reference and does not intend it to be an active link to its website.

 

AIG Program Funding, Inc.
(Issuer)

 

AIGPF is a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of AIG. AIGPF was incorporated as a Delaware corporation on February 14, 2007. AIGPF has not conducted any operations to date and was established for the purpose of issuing securities (including bonds, notes, debentures, warrants, purchase contracts and units) and other instruments. AIGPF’s by-laws do not contain any restrictions on the business activities which it may carry on in the future. AIGPF is not required to, and does not intend to, publish audited financial statements.

 

AIGPF’s principal executive offices are located at 70 Pine Street, New York, New York, 10270, and its telephone number is (212) 770-7000.

 

The Securities We Are Offering

 

AIG may offer any of the following securities from time to time:

 

 

AIGPF may offer any of the following securities from time to time:

 

 

When we use the term “securities” in this prospectus, we mean any of the securities we may offer with this prospectus, unless we say otherwise. This prospectus, including the following summary, describes the general terms that may apply to the securities; the specific terms of any particular securities that we may offer will be described in a separate supplement to this prospectus.

 

The Guarantees

 

AIG, as Guarantor, will fully and unconditionally guarantee AIGPF’s payment obligations under the securities issued by AIGPF. In the event of a default in payment by AIGPF, holders may institute legal proceedings directly against the Guarantor to enforce its obligations without first proceeding against AIGPF. The Guarantees will constitute unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the Guarantor ranking pari passu in right of payment with all of the Guarantor’s senior debt currently outstanding. You should note, however, that to the extent the Guarantor is required to satisfy any of its obligations under the Guarantees through the sale of insurance assets, such sale may require the consent of regulatory authorities. The specific terms of the Guarantees will be more fully described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

Debt Securities

 

We may issue several different types of debt securities. For any particular debt securities we offer, the applicable prospectus supplement will describe the terms of the debt securities, and will include for each series of debt securities the initial public offering price, designation, aggregate principal amount (including whether determined by reference to an index), currency, denomination, premium, maturity, interest rate (whether fixed or floating), time of payment of any interest, any terms for mandatory or optional redemption, any terms on which the debt securities may be convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock or other securities of another entity and any other specific terms. AIG will issue the senior and subordinated debt securities under separate debt indentures, between AIG and The Bank of New York, as trustee. AIGPF will issue the debt securities under an indenture, among AIGPF, as Issuer, AIG, as Guarantor, and The Bank of New York, as Trustee.

 

Warrants

 

We may offer two types of warrants:

 

 

 

For any particular warrants we offer, the applicable prospectus supplement will describe the underlying property; the expiration date; the exercise price or the manner of determining the exercise price; the amount and kind, or the manner of determining the amount and kind, of property to be delivered by you or us upon exercise; and any other specific terms. AIG may issue the warrants under the warrant indenture between AIG, as Issuer, and The Bank of New York, as Trustee, or under warrant agreements between AIG and one or more warrant agents. AIGPF may issue the warrants under the warrant indenture among AIGPF, as Issuer, AIG, as Guarantor, and The Bank of New York, as Trustee, or under warrant agreements among AIGPF, as Issuer, AIG, as Guarantor, and one or more warrant agents.

 

Purchase Contracts

 

We may offer purchase contracts for the purchase or sale of, or whose cash value is determined by reference to the performance, level or value of, one or more of the following:

 

 

For any particular purchase contracts we offer, the applicable prospectus supplement will describe the underlying property; the settlement date; the purchase price or manner of determining the purchase price and whether it must be paid when the purchase contract is issued or at a later date; the amount and kind, or the manner of determining the amount and kind, of property to be delivered at settlement; whether the holder will pledge property to secure the performance of any obligations the holder may have under the purchase contract; and any other specific terms. We may issue purchase contracts under an indenture described above or a unit agreement described below.

 

Junior Subordinated Debentures

 

AIG may offer junior subordinated debentures pursuant to a junior subordinated indenture or a subordinated junior subordinated indenture, each between AIG and The Bank of New York, as trustee. For any particular junior subordinated debentures AIG offers, the applicable prospectus supplement will describe the terms of the junior subordinated debentures, and will include for each series of junior subordinated debentures the title, initial public offering price, aggregate principal amount, denomination, premium, maturity, seniority, interest rate (whether fixed or floating), time of payment of any interest, interest deferral provisions, any mandatory or optional sinking funds, any terms for mandatory or optional redemption, any terms on which the junior subordinated debentures may be convertible or exchangeable into other securities, any modifications, additions or deletions to the events of default under the applicable indenture, applicability of defeasance provisions and any other specific terms.

 

Units

 

AIG may offer units, comprised of two or more of its debt securities, warrants, purchase contracts, junior subordinated debentures, preferred stock and common stock in any combination. AIGPF may offer units, comprised of two or more of its debt securities, warrants and purchase contracts, in any combination. For any particular units we offer, the applicable prospectus supplement will describe the particular securities comprising each unit; the terms on which those securities will be separable, if any; whether the holder will pledge property to secure the performance of any obligations the holder may have under the unit; and any other specific terms of the units. AIG may issue the units under unit agreements between AIG, as Issuer, and one or more unit agents. AIGPF may issue the units under unit agreements among AIGPF, as Issuer, AIG, as Guarantor, and one or more unit agents.

Preferred Stock and Depositary Shares

 

AIG may offer its preferred stock in one or more series. For any particular series AIG offers, your prospectus supplement will describe the specific designation; the aggregate number of shares offered; the rate and periods, or manner of calculating the rate and periods, for dividends, if any; the stated value and liquidation preference amount, if any; the voting rights, if any; the terms on which the series will be convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for AIG’s common stock, preferred stock of another series or other securities described in this prospectus or the debt or equity securities of third parties or property, if any; the redemption terms, if any; and any other specific terms. AIG may also offer depositary shares, each of which would represent an interest in a fractional share or multiple shares of preferred stock. AIG may issue the depositary shares under deposit agreements between AIG and one or more depositaries.

 

Common Stock

 

AIG may also issue its common stock.

 

Listing

 

If any securities are to be listed or quoted on a securities exchange or quotation system, the applicable prospectus supplement will say so. AIG’s common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trades under the symbol “AIG.”

 

Manner of Offering

 

The securities will be offered when they are first issued and sold and after that in market-making transactions involving one or more of our subsidiaries.

 

When we issue new securities, we may offer them for sale to or through underwriters, dealers and agents, including subsidiaries of AIG, or directly to purchasers. The applicable prospectus supplement will include any required information about the firms we use and the discounts or commissions we may pay them for their services.

 

Unless otherwise indicated in any prospectus supplement, AIG intends to use the net proceeds from the sale of securities for general corporate purposes and AIGPF intends to loan the net proceeds from the sale of securities to AIG, its direct parent, or certain of AIG’s subsidiaries, for application to general corporate purposes.

 

The following table sets forth the historical ratios of earnings to fixed charges of AIG and its consolidated subsidiaries for the periods indicated. For more information on AIG’s consolidated ratios of earnings to fixed charges, see AIG’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended March 31, 2007, each of which is incorporated by reference into this prospectus as described under “Where You Can Find More Information.”

 

Quarter Ended		Year Ended December 31,
March 31, 2007		2006		2005		2004		2003		2002
3.29		3.37		3.01		3.42		3.03		2.55

 

Earnings represent:

 

 

plus

 

 

less

 

 

Fixed charges include:

 

 

As of the date of this prospectus, neither AIG nor AIGPF has any preferred stock outstanding.

 

References to “AIG,” “us,” “we” or “our” in this section means American International Group, Inc., and does not include the subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own debt securities registered in their own names, on the books that we or the applicable trustee maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in debt securities registered in street name or in debt securities issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this prospectus, we mean all purchasers of the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those securities. Owners of beneficial interests in the debt securities should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

Debt Securities May Be Senior or Subordinated

 

We may issue senior or subordinated debt securities. Neither the senior debt securities nor the subordinated debt securities will be secured by any of our property or assets or the property or assets of our subsidiaries. Thus, by owning a debt security, you are one of our unsecured creditors.

 

The senior debt securities and, in the case of senior debt securities in bearer form, any related interest coupons, will be issued under our senior debt indenture described below and will rank equally with all of our other unsecured and unsubordinated debt.

 

The subordinated debt securities and, in the case of subordinated debt securities in bearer form, any related interest coupons, will be issued under our subordinated debt indenture described below and will be subordinate in right of payment to all of our “senior indebtedness,” as defined in the subordinated debt indenture. Neither indenture limits our ability to incur additional unsecured indebtedness.

 

When we refer to “debt securities” in this prospectus, we mean both the senior debt securities and the subordinated debt securities.

 

The Senior and Subordinated Debt Indentures

 

The senior debt securities and the subordinated debt securities are each governed by a document called an indenture — the senior debt indenture, in the case of the senior debt securities, and the subordinated debt indenture, in the case of the subordinated debt securities. Each indenture is a contract between AIG and The Bank of New York, which acts as trustee. The indentures are substantially identical, except for the provisions relating to subordination, which are included only in the subordinated debt indenture.

 

Reference to the indenture or the trustee with respect to any debt securities, means the indenture under which those debt securities are issued and the trustee under that indenture.

 

The trustee has two main roles:

 

1. The trustee can enforce the rights of holders against us if we default on our obligations under the terms of the indenture or the debt securities. There are some limitations on the extent to which the trustee acts on behalf of holders, described below under “— Events of Default — Remedies If an Event of Default Occurs.”

 

2. The trustee performs administrative duties for us, such as sending interest payments and notices to holders, and transferring a holder’s debt securities to a new buyer if a holder sells.

 

The indenture and its associated documents contain the full legal text of the matters described in this section. The indenture and the debt securities are governed by New York law. A copy of each indenture is an exhibit to our registration statement. See “Where You Can Find More Information” below for information on how to obtain a copy.

 

General

 

We may issue as many distinct series of debt securities under any of the indentures as we wish. The provisions of the senior debt indenture and the subordinated debt indentures allow us not only to issue debt securities with terms different from those previously issued under the applicable indenture, but also to “reopen” a previous issue of

a series of debt securities and issue additional debt securities of that series. We may issue debt securities in amounts that exceed the total amount specified on the cover of your prospectus supplement at any time without your consent and without notifying you. In addition we may offer debt securities, together with other debt securities, warrants, purchase contracts, junior subordinated debentures, preferred stock or common stock in the form of units, as described below under “Description of Units AIG May Offer.”

 

This section summarizes the material terms of the debt securities that are common to all series, although the prospectus supplement which describes the terms of each series of debt securities may also describe differences from the material terms summarized here.

 

Because this section is a summary, it does not describe every aspect of the debt securities. This summary is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to all the provisions of the indenture, including definitions of certain terms used in the indenture. In this summary, we describe the meaning of only some of the more important terms. For your convenience, we also include references in parentheses to certain sections of the indenture. Whenever we refer to particular sections or defined terms of the indenture in this prospectus or in the prospectus supplement, such sections or defined terms are incorporated by reference here or in the prospectus supplement. You must look to the indenture for the most complete description of what we describe in summary form in this prospectus.

 

This summary also is subject to and qualified by reference to the description of the particular terms of your series described in the prospectus supplement. Those terms may vary from the terms described in this prospectus. The prospectus supplement relating to each series of debt securities will be attached to the front of this prospectus. There may also be a further prospectus supplement, known as a pricing supplement, which contains the precise terms of debt securities you are offered.

 

We may issue the debt securities as original issue discount securities, which will be offered and sold at a substantial discount below their stated principal amount. (Section 101) The prospectus supplement relating to the original issue discount securities will describe federal income tax consequences and other special considerations applicable to them. The debt securities may also be issued as indexed securities or securities denominated in foreign currencies or currency units, as described in more detail in the prospectus supplement relating to any of the particular debt securities. Some of the risks associated with such debt securities issued are described below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.” The prospectus supplement relating to specific debt securities will also describe certain additional tax considerations applicable to such debt securities.

 

In addition, the specific financial, legal and other terms particular to a series of debt securities will be described in the prospectus supplement and, if applicable, a pricing supplement relating to the series. The prospectus supplement relating to a series of debt securities will describe the following terms of the series:

 

 

 

An investment in debt securities may involve special risks, including risks associated with indexed securities and currency-related risks if the debt security is linked to an index or is payable in or otherwise linked to a non-U.S. dollar currency. We describe some of these risks below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.”

 

Market-Making Transactions

 

One or more of our subsidiaries may purchase and resell debt securities in market-making transactions after their initial issuance. We discuss these transactions below under “Plan of Distribution — Market-Making Resales by Subsidiaries of AIG.” We may also purchase debt securities in the open market or in private transactions to be held by us or cancelled.

 

Overview of Remainder of this Description

 

The remainder of this description summarizes:

 

 

 

Additional Mechanics

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer

 

Unless we specify otherwise in the prospectus supplement, the debt securities will be issued:

 

 

If we issue a debt security in bearer form, the provisions described below under “Considerations Relating to Securities Issued in Bearer Form” would apply to that security. Some of the features of the debt securities that we describe in this prospectus may not apply to bearer debt securities.

 

If a debt security is issued as a registered global debt security, only the depositary — e.g., DTC, Euroclear and Clearstream, each as defined below under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance” — will be entitled to transfer and exchange the debt security as described in this subsection, since the depositary will be the sole holder of the debt security. Those who own beneficial interests in a global security do so through participants in the depositary’s securities clearance system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry procedures below under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

Holders may have their debt securities broken into more debt securities of smaller denominations of not less than $1,000 or combined into fewer debt securities of larger denominations, as long as the total principal amount is not changed. (Section 305) This is called an exchange.

 

Holders may exchange or transfer debt securities at the office of the trustee. They may also replace lost, stolen or mutilated debt securities at that office. The trustee acts as our agent for registering debt securities in the names of holders and transferring debt securities. We may change this appointment to another entity or perform it ourselves. The entity performing the role of maintaining the list of registered holders is called the security registrar. It will also perform transfers. (Section 305) The trustee’s agent may require an indemnity before replacing any debt securities.

 

Holders will not be required to pay a service charge to transfer or exchange debt securities, but holders may be required to pay for any tax or other governmental charge associated with the exchange or transfer. The transfer or exchange will only be made if the security registrar is satisfied with your proof of ownership.

 

If we designate additional transfer agents, they will be named in the prospectus supplement. We may cancel the designation of any particular transfer agent. We may also approve a change in the office through which any transfer agent acts. (Section 1002)

 

If the debt securities are redeemable and we redeem less than all of the debt securities of a particular series, we may block the transfer or exchange of debt securities during the period beginning 15 days before the day we mail the notice of redemption and ending on the day of that mailing, in order to freeze the list of holders to prepare the mailing. We may also refuse to register transfers or exchanges of debt securities selected for redemption, except that we will continue to permit transfers and exchanges of the unredeemed portion of any debt security being partially redeemed. (Section 305)

 

The rules for exchange described above apply to exchange of debt securities for other debt securities of the same series and kind. If a debt security is convertible, exercisable or exchangeable into or for a different kind of

security, such as one that we have not issued, or for other property, the rules governing that type of conversion, exercise or exchange will be described in the prospectus supplement.

 

Payment and Paying Agents

 

We will pay interest to the person listed in the trustee’s records at the close of business on a particular day in advance of each due date for interest, even if that person no longer owns the debt security on the interest due date. That particular day, usually about two weeks in advance of the interest due date, is called the regular record date and will be stated in the prospectus supplement. (Section 307) Holders buying and selling debt securities must work out between them how to compensate for the fact that we will pay all the interest for an interest period to the one who is the registered holder on the regular record date. The most common manner is to adjust the sale price of the securities to pro-rate interest fairly between buyer and seller. This prorated interest amount is called accrued interest.

 

We will pay interest, principal and any other money due on the debt securities at the corporate trust office of the trustee in New York City. That office is currently located at 101 Barclay Street, New York, New York 10286. Holders must make arrangements to have their payments picked up at or wired from that office. We may also choose to pay interest by mailing checks.

 

 

 

We may also arrange for additional payment offices and may cancel or change these offices, including our use of the trustee’s corporate trust office. These offices are called paying agents. We may also choose to act as our own paying agent or choose one of our subsidiaries to do so. We must notify holders of changes in the paying agents for any particular series of debt securities. (Section 1002)

 

Notices

 

We and the trustee will send notices regarding the debt securities only to holders, using their addresses as listed in the trustee’s records. (Sections 101 and 106) With respect to who is a legal “holder” for this purpose, see “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

Regardless of who acts as paying agent, all money paid by us to a paying agent that remains unclaimed at the end of two years after the amount is due to holders will be repaid to us. After that two-year period, holders may look to us for payment and not to the trustee or any other paying agent. (Section 1003)

 

Special Situations

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

We are generally permitted to consolidate or merge with another company or firm. We are also permitted to sell or lease substantially all of our assets to another company or firm. However, we may not take any of these actions unless all the following conditions are met:

 

 

If the conditions described above are satisfied with respect to any series of debt securities, we will not need to obtain the approval of the holders of those debt securities in order to merge or consolidate or to sell our assets. Also, these conditions will apply only if we wish to merge or consolidate with another entity or sell substantially all of our assets to another entity. We will not need to satisfy these conditions if we enter into other types of transactions, including any transaction in which we acquire the stock or assets of another entity, any transaction that involves a change of control but in which we do not merge or consolidate and any transaction in which we sell less than substantially all of our assets. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in our credit rating, may reduce our operating results or may impair our financial condition. Holders of our debt securities, however, will have no approval right with respect to any transaction of this type.

 

Modification and Waiver of the Debt Securities

 

There are four types of changes we can make to either indenture and the debt securities issued under that indenture.

 

Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders.  First, there are changes that cannot be made to the indenture or the debt securities without specific approval of each holder of a debt security affected in any material respect by the change under a particular debt indenture. Affected debt securities may be all or less than all of the debt securities issued under that debt indenture or all or less than all of the debt securities of a series. Following is a list of those types of changes:

 

 

Changes Requiring a Majority Vote.  The second type of change to the indenture and the debt securities is the kind that requires a vote in favor by holders of debt securities owning not less than a majority of the principal amount of the particular series affected or, if so provided and to the extent permitted by the Trust Indenture Act, of particular debt securities affected thereby. Most changes fall into this category, except for clarifying changes and certain other changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect holders of the debt securities. (Section 901) We may also obtain a waiver of a past default from the holders of debt securities owning a majority of the principal amount of the particular series affected. However, we cannot obtain a waiver of a payment default or any other aspect of the indenture or the debt securities listed in the first category described above under “— Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders” unless we obtain the individual consent of each holder to the waiver. (Section 513)

 

Changes Not Requiring Approval.  The third type of change to the indenture and the debt securities does not require any vote by holders of debt securities. This type is limited to clarifications and certain other changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect holders of the debt securities. (Section 901)

We may also make changes or obtain waivers that do not adversely affect in any material respect a particular debt security, even if they affect other debt securities. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of that debt security; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected debt securities.

 

Modification of Subordination Provisions.  We may not modify the subordination provisions of the subordinated debt indenture in a manner that would adversely affect in any material respect the outstanding subordinated debt securities without the consent of the holders of a majority of the principal amount of the particular series affected or, if so provided and to the extent permitted by the Trust Indenture Act, of particular subordinated debt securities affected thereby. Also, we may not modify the subordination provisions of any outstanding subordinated debt securities without the consent of each holder of our senior indebtedness that would be adversely affected thereby. The term “senior indebtedness” is defined below under “Subordination Provisions.”

 

Further Details Concerning Voting.  When taking a vote, we will use the following rules to decide how much principal amount to attribute to a debt security:

 

 

Debt securities will not be considered outstanding, and therefore not eligible to vote, if we have given a notice of redemption and deposited or set aside in trust for the holders money for the payment or redemption of the debt securities. Debt securities will also not be eligible to vote if they have been fully defeased as described below under “— Defeasance — Full Defeasance.” (Section 1302)

 

We will generally be entitled to set any day as a record date for the purpose of determining the holders of outstanding debt securities that are entitled to vote or take other action under the indenture. In certain limited circumstances, the trustee will be entitled to set a record date for action by holders. If we or the trustee set a record date for a vote or other action to be taken by holders of a particular series, that vote or action may be taken only by persons who are holders of outstanding securities of that series on the record date. We or the trustee, as applicable, may shorten or lengthen this period from time to time. (Section 104)

 

 

 

Subordination Provisions

 

Holders of subordinated debt securities should recognize that contractual provisions in the subordinated debt indenture may prohibit us from making payments on those securities. Subordinated debt securities are subordinate and junior in right of payment, to the extent and in the manner stated in the subordinated debt indenture, to all of our senior indebtedness, as defined in the subordinated debt indenture, including all debt securities we have issued and will issue under the senior debt indenture.

 

The subordinated debt indenture defines “senior indebtedness” as all indebtedness and obligations of, or guaranteed or assumed by, us for borrowed money or evidenced by bonds, debentures, notes or other similar instruments, whether existing now or in the future, and all amendments, renewals, extensions, modifications and refundings of any indebtedness or obligations of that kind. Senior debt excludes the subordinated debt securities

and any other indebtedness or obligations that would otherwise constitute indebtedness if it is specifically designated as being subordinate, or not superior, in right of payment to the subordinated debt securities.

 

The subordinated debt indenture provides that, unless all principal of and any premium or interest on the senior indebtedness has been paid in full, no payment or other distribution may be made in respect of any subordinated debt securities in the following circumstances:

 

 

If the trustee under the subordinated debt indenture or any holders of the subordinated debt securities receive any payment or distribution that is prohibited under the subordination provisions, then the trustee or the holders will have to repay that money to the holders of the senior indebtedness.

 

Even if the subordination provisions prevent us from making any payment when due on the subordinated debt securities of any series, we will be in default on our obligations under that series if we do not make the payment when due. This means that the trustee under the subordinated debt indenture and the holders of that series can take action against us, but they will not receive any money until the claims of the holders of senior indebtedness have been fully satisfied.

 

The subordinated debt indenture allows the holders of senior indebtedness to obtain a court order requiring us and any holder of subordinated debt securities to comply with the subordination provisions.

 

Defeasance

 

The following discussion of full defeasance and covenant defeasance will be applicable to each series of debt securities that is denominated in U.S. dollars and has a fixed rate of interest and will apply to other series of debt securities if we so specify in the prospectus supplement. (Section 1301)

 

Full Defeasance

 

If there is a change in U.S. federal tax law, as described below, we can legally release ourselves from any payment or other obligations on the debt securities, called full defeasance, if we put in place the following other arrangements for holders to be repaid:

 

 

 

 

If we ever did accomplish full defeasance, as described above, you would have to rely solely on the trust deposit for repayment on the debt securities. You could not look to us for repayment in the unlikely event of any shortfall.

 

Covenant Defeasance

 

Under current U.S. federal tax law, we can make the same type of deposit as described above and we will be released from the restrictive covenants under the debt securities that may be described in the prospectus supplement. This is called covenant defeasance. In that event, you would lose the protection of these covenants but would gain the protection of having money and U.S. government or U.S. government agency notes or bonds set aside in trust to repay the debt securities. In order to achieve covenant defeasance, we must do the following:

 

 

If we accomplish covenant defeasance, certain provisions of the indenture and the debt securities would no longer apply:

 

 

If we accomplish covenant defeasance, you can still look to us for repayment of the debt securities if there were a shortfall in the trust deposit. In fact, if one of the remaining events of default occurred (such as a bankruptcy) and the debt securities become immediately due and payable, there may be such a shortfall. (Sections 1303 and 1304)

 

Events of Default

 

You will have special rights if an event of default occurs and is not cured, as described later in this subsection.

 

What Is An Event of Default?   The term “Event of Default” means any of the following:

 

 

 

Remedies If an Event of Default Occurs.  If you are the holder of a subordinated debt security, all remedies available upon the occurrence of an event of default under the subordinated debt indenture will be subject to the restrictions on the subordinated debt securities described above under “— Subordination Provisions.” If an event of default occurs, the trustee will have special duties. In that situation, the trustee will be obligated to use those of its rights and powers under the indenture, and to use the same degree of care and skill in doing so, that a prudent person would use in that situation in conducting his or her own affairs. If an event of default has occurred and has not been cured, the trustee or the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the debt securities of the affected series may declare the entire principal amount (or, in the case of original issue discount securities, the portion of the principal amount that is specified in the terms of the affected debt security) of all the debt securities of that series to be due and immediately payable. This is called a declaration of acceleration of maturity. However, a declaration of acceleration of maturity may be cancelled, but only before a judgment or decree based on the acceleration has been obtained, by the holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the debt securities of the affected series. (Section 502)

 

You should read carefully the prospectus supplement relating to any series of debt securities which are original issue discount securities for the particular provisions relating to acceleration of the maturity of a portion of the principal amount of original issue discount securities upon the occurrence of an event of default and its continuation.

 

Except in cases of default, where the trustee has the special duties described above, the trustee is not required to take any action under the indenture at the request of any holders unless the holders offer the trustee reasonable protection from expenses and liability called an indemnity. (Section 603) If indemnity reasonably satisfactory to the Trustee is provided, the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding securities of the relevant series may direct the time, method and place of conducting any lawsuit or other formal legal action seeking any remedy available to the trustee. These majority holders may also direct the trustee in performing any other action under the applicable indenture with respect to the debt securities of that series. (Section 512)

 

Before you bypass the trustee and bring your own lawsuit or other formal legal action or take other steps to enforce your rights or protect your interests relating to the debt securities the following must occur:

 

 

However, you are entitled at any time to bring a lawsuit for the payment of money due on your debt security on or after its due date. (Section 508)

 

 

We will give to the trustee every year a written statement of certain of our officers certifying that to their knowledge we are in compliance with the applicable indenture and the debt securities issued under it, or else specifying any default. (Section 1004)

 

Our Relationship with the Trustee

 

The Bank of New York is one of our lenders and from time to time provides other banking services to us and our subsidiaries.

 

The Bank of New York is initially serving as the trustee for our senior debt securities, our subordinated debt securities and the warrants issued under our warrant indenture, as well as the trustee under any amended and restated trust agreement and capital securities subordinated guarantee that we enter into in connection with the issuance of capital securities. Consequently, if an actual or potential event of default occurs with respect to any of these securities, trust agreements or subordinated guarantees, the trustee may be considered to have a conflicting interest for purposes of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939. In that case, the trustee may be required to resign under one or more of the indentures, trust agreements or subordinated guarantees and we would be required to appoint a successor trustee. For this purpose, a “potential” event of default means an event that would be an event of default if the requirements for giving us default notice or for the default having to exist for a specific period of time were disregarded.

 

References to “AIG,” “us,” “we” or “our” in this section mean American International Group, Inc., and do not include the subsidiaries of American International Group Inc. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own warrants registered in their own names, on the books that we or the applicable trustee or warrant agent maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in warrants registered in street name or in warrants issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this section, we mean all purchasers of warrants being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those warrants. Owners of beneficial interests in the warrants should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

Warrants May Be Debt Warrants or Universal Warrants

 

We may issue warrants that are debt warrants or universal warrants. We may offer warrants separately or together with our debt securities. We may also offer warrants together with other warrants, purchase contracts, debt securities, junior subordinated debentures, preferred stock or common stock in the form of units, as summarized under “Description of Units AIG May Offer.”

 

We will issue the warrants under either a warrant indenture or a warrant agreement. The warrant indenture, the warrant agreement and their associated documents contain the full legal text of the matters described in this section. The warrant indenture and the warrant agreement and the warrants issued thereunder are governed by New York law.

 

Warrant Indenture

 

The warrants may be governed by a document called an indenture. The warrant indenture is a contract between AIG and The Bank of New York, which acts as trustee. See “Description of Debt Securities AIG May Offer — Our Relationship with the Trustee” above for more information about the trustee.

 

Reference to the warrant indenture or the trustee with respect to any warrants, means the indenture under which those warrants are issued and the trustee under that indenture.

 

The trustee has two main roles:

 

1. The trustee can enforce the rights of holders against us if we default on our obligations under the terms of the warrant indenture or the warrants. There are some limitations on the extent to which the trustee acts on behalf of holders, described below under “— Events of Default — Remedies If an Event of Default Occurs.”

 

2. The trustee performs administrative duties for us, such as sending payments to holders and notices, and transferring a holder’s warrants to a new buyer if a holder sells.

 

Warrant Agreement

 

A warrant agreement is a contract between us and a bank, trust company or other financial institution, as warrant agent. References to a warrant agreement or warrant agent with respect to any warrants, means the warrant agreement under which those warrants are issued and the warrant agent under that warrant agreement.

 

The warrant agent is our agent and, unlike a trustee, has no obligations to holders of the warrants issued under the warrant agreement. The main role of the warrant agent is to perform administrative duties for us, such as sending payments and notices to holders and transferring a holder’s warrants to a new buyer if a holder sells.

 

General

 

We may issue as many distinct series of warrants as we wish.

This section summarizes terms of the warrant indenture and warrant agreements and terms of the warrants that apply generally to the warrants, although the prospectus supplement which describes the terms of the warrants may also describe differences from the material terms summarized here.

 

Because this section is a summary, it does not describe every aspect of the warrants. This summary is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to all the provisions of the warrant indenture and warrant agreement, including definitions of certain terms used in the warrant indenture and warrant agreement. In this summary, we describe the meaning of only some of the more important terms. Whenever we refer to particular sections or defined terms of the warrant indenture or warrant agreement in this prospectus or in the prospectus supplement, such sections or defined terms are incorporated by reference here or in the prospectus supplement. You must look to the warrant indenture or warrant agreement for the most complete description of what we describe in summary form in this prospectus.

 

This summary also is subject to and qualified by reference to the description of the particular terms of your warrants described in the prospectus supplement. As you read this section, please remember that the specific terms of your warrant as described in your prospectus supplement will supplement and, if applicable, may modify or replace the general terms described in this section. If there are differences between your prospectus supplement and this prospectus, your prospectus supplement will control. Thus, the statements we make in this section may not apply to your warrant.

 

When we refer to a series of warrants, we mean all warrants issued as part of the same series under the applicable warrant indenture or warrant agreement. When we refer to your prospectus supplement, we mean the prospectus supplement describing the specific terms of the warrant you purchase. The terms used in your prospectus supplement will have the meanings described in this prospectus, unless otherwise specified.

 

In addition, the specific financial, legal and other specific terms of your warrant will be described in the prospectus supplement relating to the warrants. The prospectus supplement relating to the warrants may contain, where applicable, the following information about your warrants:

 

 

If we issue warrants as part of a unit, your prospectus supplement will specify whether the warrants will be separable from the other securities in the unit before the warrants’ expiration date.

 

Until a warrant is properly exercised, no holder of a warrant will have any rights of a holder of the warrant property deliverable under the warrant.

An investment in a warrant may involve special risks, including risks associated with indexed securities and currency-related risks if the warrant or the warrant property is linked to an index or is payable in or otherwise linked to a non-U.S. dollar currency. We describe some of these risks below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.”

 

Debt Warrants

 

We may issue warrants for the purchase of our debt securities on terms to be determined at the time of sale. We refer to this type of warrant as a “debt warrant.”

 

If you purchase debt warrants, your prospectus supplement may contain, where applicable, the following additional information about your debt warrants:

 

 

Universal Warrants

 

We may also issue warrants, on terms to be determined at the time of sale, for the purchase or sale of, or whose cash value is determined by reference to the performance, level or value of, one or more of the following:

 

 

We refer to this type of warrant as a “universal warrant.” We refer to each property described above as a “warrant property.”

 

We may satisfy our obligations, if any, and the holder of a universal warrant may satisfy its obligations, if any, with respect to any universal warrants by delivering:

 

 

Your prospectus supplement will describe what we may deliver to satisfy our obligations, if any, and what the holder of a universal warrant may deliver to satisfy its obligations, if any, with respect to any universal warrants.

 

If you purchase universal warrants, your prospectus supplement may contain, where applicable, the following additional information about your universal warrants:

 

 

 

Market-Making Transactions

 

One or more of our subsidiaries may resell warrants in market-making transactions after their initial issuance. We discuss these transactions below under “Plan of Distribution — Market-Making Resales by Subsidiaries.” We may also purchase, in our discretion, warrants to be held, resold or canceled.

 

General Provisions of the Warrant Indenture

 

We may issue as many distinct series of warrants under the warrant indenture as we wish, in such amounts as we wish. The provisions of the warrant indenture allow us not only to issue warrants with terms different from those of warrants previously issued under the warrant indenture, but also to “reopen” a previous issue of a series of warrants and issue additional warrants of that series. We may issue warrants in amounts that exceed the total amount specified on the cover of your prospectus supplement at any time without your consent and without notifying you.

 

The warrant indenture and the warrants do not limit our ability to incur other contractual obligations or indebtedness or to issue other securities. Also, the terms of the warrants do not impose financial or similar restrictions on us.

 

Warrants will not be secured by any property or our assets or the assets of our subsidiaries. Thus, by owning a warrant issued under the warrant indenture, you hold one of our unsecured obligations.

 

The warrants issued under the warrant indenture will be our contractual obligations and will rank equally with all of our other unsecured contractual obligations and unsecured and unsubordinated debt. The warrant indenture does not limit our ability to incur additional contractual obligations or debt.

 

Overview of Remainder of this Description

 

The remainder of this description summarizes:

 

 

Additional Mechanics

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer of Warrants

 

Unless we specify otherwise in your prospectus supplement, we will issue each warrant in registered global — i.e., book-entry — form only. Warrants in book-entry form will be represented by a global security

registered in the name of a depositary, which will be the holder of all the warrants represented by the global security. Those who own beneficial interests in a global warrant will do so through participants in the depositary’s system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry securities below under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

If a warrant is issued as a registered global warrant, only the depositary — e.g., DTC, Euroclear or Clearstream — will be entitled to transfer and exchange the warrant as described in this subsection, since the depositary will be the sole holder of the warrant.

 

If any warrants cease to be issued in registered global form, they will be issued:

 

 

Holders may exchange their warrants for certificates representing a smaller or larger number of warrants, as long as the total number of warrants is not changed.

 

Holders may exchange or transfer their warrants at the office of the trustee. They may also replace lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated warrants at that office. We have appointed the trustee to act as our agent for registering warrants in the names of holders and transferring and replacing warrants. We may appoint another entity to perform these functions or perform them ourselves.

 

Holders will not be required to pay a service charge to transfer or exchange their warrants, but they may be required to pay for any tax or other governmental charge associated with the transfer or exchange. The transfer or exchange, and any replacement, will be made only if our transfer agent is satisfied with the holder’s proof of legal ownership. The transfer agent may require an indemnity before replacing any warrants.

 

If we have the right to redeem, accelerate or settle any warrants before their expiration, and we exercise our right as to less than all those warrants, we may block the transfer or exchange of those warrants during the period beginning 15 days before the day we mail the notice of exercise and ending on the day of that mailing or during any other period specified in the prospectus supplement, in order to freeze the list of holders to prepare the mailing. We may also refuse to register transfers of or to exchange any warrant selected for early settlement, except that we will continue to permit transfers and exchanges of the unsettled portion of any warrant being partially settled.

 

If we have designated additional transfer agents for your warrant, they will be named in your prospectus supplement. We may appoint additional transfer agents or cancel the appointment of any particular transfer agent. We may also approve a change in the office through which any transfer agent acts.

 

The rules for exchange described above apply to exchange of warrants for other warrants of the same series and kind. If a warrant is exercisable for a different kind of security, such as one that we have not issued, or for other property, the rules governing that type of exercise will be described in your prospectus supplement.

 

Expiration Date and Payment or Settlement Date

 

The term “expiration date” with respect to any warrant means the date on which the right to exercise the warrant expires. The term “payment or settlement date” with respect to any warrant means the date when any money or warrant property with respect to that warrant becomes payable or deliverable upon exercise or redemption of that warrant in accordance with its terms.

 

Currency of Warrants

 

Amounts that become due and payable on your warrant may be payable in a currency, composite currency, basket of currencies or currency unit or units specified in your prospectus supplement. We refer to this currency, composite currency, basket of currencies or currency unit or units as a “specified currency.” The specified currency for your warrant will be U.S. dollars, unless your prospectus supplement states otherwise. You will have to pay for your warrant by delivering the requisite amount of the specified currency to a firm that we name in your

prospectus supplement, unless other arrangements have been made between you and us or you and that firm. We will make payments on your warrants in the specified currency, except as described in your prospectus supplement. See “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities” below for more information about risks of investing in warrants of this kind.

 

Redemption

 

We will not be entitled to redeem your warrant before its expiration date unless your prospectus supplement specifies a redemption commencement date.

 

If your prospectus supplement specifies a redemption commencement date, it will also specify one or more redemption prices. It may also specify one or more redemption periods during which the redemption prices relating to a redemption of warrants during those periods will apply.

 

If your prospectus supplement specifies a redemption commencement date, your warrant will be redeemable at our option at any time on or after that date or at a specified time or times. If we redeem your warrant, we will do so at the specified redemption price. If different prices are specified for different redemption periods, the price we pay will be the price that applies to the redemption period during which your warrant is redeemed.

 

If we exercise an option to redeem any warrant, we will give the holder written notice of the redemption price of the warrant to be redeemed, not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days before the applicable redemption date or within any other period before the applicable redemption date specified in your prospectus supplement. We will give the notice in the manner described in your prospectus supplement.

 

Special Situations

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

We are generally permitted to consolidate or merge with another corporation or firm. We are also permitted to sell substantially all of our assets to another firm, or to buy or lease substantially all of the assets of another firm. With regard to any warrant, however, we may not take any of these actions unless all the following conditions are met:

 

 

If the conditions described above are satisfied with respect to any warrant, we will not need to obtain the approval of the holder of that warrant in order to merge or consolidate or to sell our assets. Also, these conditions will apply only if we wish to merge or consolidate with another entity or sell substantially all of our assets to another entity. We will not need to satisfy these conditions if we enter into other types of transactions, including any transaction in which we acquire the stock or assets of another entity, any transaction that involves a change of control but in which we do not merge or consolidate and any transaction in which we sell less than substantially all of our assets. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in our credit rating, may reduce our operating results or may impair our financial condition. Holders of our warrants, however, will have no approval right with respect to any transaction of this type.

Modification and Waiver of the Warrants

 

There are three types of changes we can make to the warrant indenture and the warrants issued under that warrant indenture.

 

Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders.  First, there are changes that cannot be made to the warrant indenture or the warrants issued under that warrant indenture without the approval of each holder of a warrant affected by the change. Affected warrants may be all or less than all of the warrants issued under that warrant indenture or all or less than all of the warrants of a series. Here is a list of those types of changes:

 

 

Changes Requiring a Majority Vote.  The second type of change to the warrant indenture and the warrants is the kind that requires a vote in favor by holders of warrants owning not less than a majority of the amount of the particular series affected or, if so provided and to the extent permitted by the Trust Indenture Act, of particular warrants affected thereby. If the change affects the warrants of more than one series issued under the warrant indenture, it must be approved by the holders of a majority in number of all series affected by the change, with the warrants of all the affected series voting together as one class for this purpose.

 

Most changes fall into this category, except for clarifying changes and certain other changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect holders of the warrants. However, we cannot obtain a waiver of a payment default or any other aspect of the warrant indenture or the warrants listed in the first category described above under “— Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders” unless we obtain the individual consent of each holder to the waiver.

 

Changes Not Requiring Approval.  The third type of change to the warrant indenture and the warrants does not require any approval by holders of the warrants. These changes are limited to clarifications and changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect the holders of the warrants. Nor do we need any approval to make changes that affect only warrants to be issued under the warrant indenture after the changes take effect.

We may also make changes or obtain waivers that do not adversely affect a particular warrant, even if they affect other warrants. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of that warrant; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected warrants.

 

Further Details Concerning Voting.  We will generally be entitled to set any day as a record date for the purpose of determining the holders that are entitled to take action under the warrant indenture. In certain limited circumstances, only the trustee will be entitled to set a record date for action by holders. If we or the trustee set a record date for an approval or other action to be taken by holders, that vote or action may be taken only by persons or entities who are holders on the record date and must be taken during the period that we specify for this purpose, or that the trustee specifies if it sets the record date. We or the trustee, as applicable, may shorten or lengthen this period from time to time. In addition, record dates for any global warrant may be set in accordance with procedures established by the depositary from time to time. Accordingly, record dates for global warrants may differ from those for other warrants.

 

 

 

Events of Default

 

You will have special rights if an event of default with respect to your warrant occurs and is continuing, as described in this subsection.

 

What is an Event of Default?  Unless your prospectus supplement says otherwise, when we refer to an event of default with respect to any warrant, we mean that, upon satisfaction by the holder of the warrant of all conditions precedent to our relevant obligation or covenant to be satisfied by the holder, any of the following occurs:

 

 

If we do not pay any money or deliver any warrant property when due with respect to a particular warrant of a series, as described in the first bullet point above, that failure to make a payment or delivery will not constitute an event of default with respect to any other warrant of the same series or any other series.

 

Remedies If an Event of Default Occurs.  If an event of default occurs, the trustee will have special duties. In that situation, the trustee will be obligated to use those of its rights and powers under the warrant indenture, and to use the same degree of care and skill in doing so, that a prudent person would use in that situation in conducting his or her own affairs.

 

Except in cases of default, where the trustee has special duties, the trustee is not required to take any action under the warrant indenture at the request of any holders unless the holders offer the trustee reasonable protection from expenses and liability called an indemnity. If indemnity reasonably satisfactory to the trustee is provided, the holders of a majority in number of all warrants of the relevant series may direct the time, method and place of conducting any lawsuit or other formal legal action seeking any remedy available to the trustee with respect to

that series. These majority holders may also direct the trustee in performing any other action under the warrant indenture with respect to the warrants of that series.

 

Before you bypass the trustee and bring your own lawsuit or other formal legal action or take other steps to enforce your rights or protect your interests relating to any warrant, all of the following must occur:

 

 

However, you are entitled at any time to bring a lawsuit for the payment of any money or delivery of any warrant property due on your warrant on or after its payment or settlement date.

 

 

 

We will give to the trustee every year a written statement of certain of our officers certifying that to their knowledge we are in compliance with the warrant indenture and the warrants issued under it, or else specifying any default.

 

General Provisions of Warrant Agreements

 

We may issue debt warrants and universal warrants in one or more series under one or more warrant agreements, each to be entered into between us and a bank, trust company or other financial institution as warrant agent. We may add, replace or terminate warrant agents from time to time. We may also choose to act as our own warrant agent or may choose one of our subsidiaries to do so.

 

We will describe the warrant agreement under which we issue any warrants in your prospectus supplement. Each warrant agreement and any warrants issued under the warrant agreements will be governed by New York law. We will file that agreement with the SEC, either as an exhibit to an amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part or as an exhibit to a current report on Form 8-K. See “Where You Can Find More Information” below for information on how to obtain a copy of a warrant agreement when it is filed.

 

We may also issue warrants under the warrant indenture. For these warrants, the applicable provisions of the warrant indenture described above would apply instead of the provisions described in this section.

 

Warrant Agreement Will Not Be Qualified under Trust Indenture Act

 

No warrant agreement will be qualified as an indenture, and no warrant agent will be required to qualify as a trustee, under the Trust Indenture Act. Therefore, holders of warrants issued under a warrant agreement will not have the protection of the Trust Indenture Act with respect to their warrants.

 

Enforcement of Rights

 

The warrant agent under a warrant agreement will act solely as our agent in connection with the warrants issued under that agreement. The warrant agent will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust for or with any holders of those warrants. Any holder of warrants may, without the consent of any other person, enforce by appropriate legal action, on its own behalf, its right to exercise those warrants in accordance with their terms. Until the warrant is properly exercised, no holder of any warrant will be entitled to any rights of a holder of the warrant property purchasable upon exercise of the warrant.

Form, Exchange and Transfer

 

Unless we specify otherwise in your prospectus supplement, we will issue each warrant in global — i.e., book-entry — form only. Warrants in book-entry form will be represented by a global security registered in the name of a depositary, which will be the holder of all the warrants represented by the global security. Those who own beneficial interests in a global warrant will do so through participants in the depositary’s system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry securities below under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

In addition, we will issue each warrant in registered form, unless we say otherwise in your prospectus supplement. Bearer warrants would be subject to special provisions, as we describe below under “Considerations Relating to Securities Issued in Bearer Form.”

 

If any warrants are issued in non-global form, the terms described below will apply to them:

 

 

Only the depositary will be entitled to transfer or exchange a warrant in global form, because it will be the sole holder of the warrant.

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

The warrant agreements and any warrants issued under the warrant agreements will not restrict our ability to merge or consolidate with, or sell our assets to, another corporation or other entity or to engage in any other transactions. If at any time we merge or consolidate with, or sell substantially all of our assets to, another corporation or other entity, the successor entity will succeed to and assume our obligations under the warrants and warrant agreements. We will then be relieved of any further obligation under the warrants and warrant agreements. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in our credit rating, may reduce our operating results or may impair our financial condition. Holders of our warrants, however, will have no right to vote with respect to any transaction of this type.

 

No Events of Default

 

The warrant agreements and any warrants issued under the warrant agreements also will not provide for any specific events of default.

Modification of the Warrant Agreement

 

There are three types of amendments that we and the applicable warrant agent may make to any warrant agreement or warrants issued under that warrant agreement:

 

Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders.  First, we may not amend any particular warrant or a warrant agreement with respect to any particular warrant unless we obtain the consent of the holder of that warrant, if the amendment would:

 

 

Changes Requiring a Majority Vote.  Second, any other change to a particular warrant agreement and the warrants issued under that agreement would require the following approval:

 

 

Changes Not Requiring Approval.  Third, we and the applicable warrant agent may amend any warrant or warrant agreement without the consent of any holder:

 

 

We do not need any approval to make changes that affect only warrants to be issued after the changes take effect. We may also make changes that do not adversely affect a particular warrant in any material respect, even if they adversely affect other warrants in a material respect. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of the unaffected warrant; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected warrants.

 

Payments and Notices

 

We will describe the plan we will use to make payments and give notices with respect to our warrants issued under the warrant indenture or warrant agreements in a separate supplement to this prospectus.

 

Calculation Agent

 

Calculations relating to warrants will be made by the calculation agent, an institution that we appoint as our agent for this purpose. That institution may be a subsidiary of ours. The prospectus supplement for a particular warrant will name the institution that we have appointed to act as the calculation agent for that warrant as of its original issue date. We may appoint a different institution to serve as calculation agent from time to time after the original issue date of the warrant without your consent and without notifying you of the change.

 

The calculation agent’s determination of any amount of money payable or warrant property deliverable with respect to a warrant will be final and binding in the absence of manifest error.

 

References to “AIG,” “us,” “we” or “our” in this section mean American International Group, Inc., and do not include the subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own purchase contracts registered in their own names, on the books that we or our agent maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in purchase contracts registered in street name or in purchase contracts issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this section, we mean those who invest in the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those securities. Owners of beneficial interests in the purchase contracts should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

General

 

We may issue purchase contracts in such amounts and in as many distinct series as we wish. In addition, we may issue a purchase contract separately or as part of a unit, as described below under “Description of Units AIG May Offer.”

 

Because this section is a summary, it does not describe every aspect of the purchase contracts. In this summary, we describe the meaning of only some of the more important terms.

 

As you read this section, please remember that the specific terms of your purchase contract as described in your prospectus supplement will supplement and, if applicable, may modify or replace the general terms described in this section. If there are differences between your prospectus supplement and this prospectus, your prospectus supplement will control. Thus, the statements we make in this section may not apply to your purchase contract.

 

When we refer to a series of purchase contracts, we mean all the purchase contracts issued as part of the same series under the applicable governing instrument. The purchase contracts and any governing documents will be governed by New York law. When we refer to your prospectus supplement, we mean the prospectus supplement describing the specific terms of the purchase contract you purchase. The terms used in your prospectus supplement will have the meanings described in this prospectus, unless otherwise specified.

 

Prepaid Purchase Contracts; Applicability of Debt Indenture

 

Some purchase contracts may require the holders to satisfy their obligations under the contracts at the time the contracts are issued. We refer to those contracts as “prepaid purchase contracts.” Our obligation to settle a prepaid purchase contract on the relevant settlement date will be subject to the holder’s delivery of one of our senior or subordinated debt securities, which are described above under “Description of Debt Securities AIG May Offer.” Prepaid purchase contracts will be issued under the senior or subordinated debt indenture, and the provisions of the applicable indenture will govern those contracts.

 

Non-Prepaid Purchase Contracts; No Trust Indenture Act Protection

 

Some purchase contracts do not require the holders to satisfy their obligations under the contracts until settlement. We refer to those contracts as “non-prepaid purchase contracts.” The holder of a non-prepaid purchase contract may remain obligated to perform under the contract for a substantial period of time.

 

Non-prepaid purchase contracts will be issued under a unit agreement, if they are issued in units, or under some other document, if they are not. For example, we may issue non-prepaid purchase contracts under which the holder has multiple obligations to purchase or sell, some of which are prepaid and some of which are not, under one of our indentures. We describe unit agreements generally under “Description of Units AIG May Offer” below. We will describe the particular governing document that applies to your non-prepaid purchase contracts in your prospectus supplement.

Non-prepaid purchase contracts will not be senior debt securities or subordinated debt securities and will not be issued under an indenture, unless we say otherwise in your prospectus supplement. Consequently, no governing documents for non-prepaid purchase contracts will be qualified as indentures, and no third party will be required to qualify as a trustee with regard to those contracts, under the Trust Indenture Act. Holders of non-prepaid purchase contracts will not have the protection of the Trust Indenture Act with respect to those contracts.

 

Principal Purchase Contract Terms

 

We may issue purchase contracts for the purchase or sale of, or whose cash value is determined by reference or linked to the performance, level or value of, one or more of the following:

 

 

We refer to each property described above as a “purchase contract property.” Each purchase contract will obligate:

 

 

Some purchase contracts may include multiple obligations to purchase or sell different purchase contract properties, and both we and the holder may be sellers or buyers under the same purchase contract. Until a purchase contract is properly exercised, no holder of a purchase contract will have any rights of a holder of the purchase contract property purchasable under the contract.

 

An investment in purchase contracts may involve special risks, including risks associated with indexed securities and currency-related risks if the purchase contract or purchase contract property is linked to an index or is payable in or otherwise linked to a non-U.S. dollar currency. We describe some of these risks below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.”

 

Your prospectus supplement may contain, where applicable, the following information about your purchase contract:

 

 

 

If we issue a purchase contract as part of a unit, your prospectus supplement will state whether the contract will be separable from the other securities in the unit before the contract settlement date.

 

Market-Making Transactions

 

One or more of our subsidiaries may resell purchase contracts after their initial issuance in market-making transactions. We describe these transactions below under “Plan of Distribution — Market-Making Resales by Subsidiaries.” We may also purchase, in our discretion, purchase contracts to be held, resold or canceled.

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer

 

Unless we specify otherwise in your prospectus supplement, we will issue each purchase contract in global — i.e., book-entry — form only. Purchase contracts in book-entry form will be represented by a global security registered in the name of a depositary, which will be the holder of all the purchase contracts represented by the global security. Those who own beneficial interests in a purchase contract will do so through participants in the depositary’s system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry securities under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

In addition, we will issue each purchase contract in registered form, unless we say otherwise in your prospectus supplement.

 

If any purchase contracts are issued in non-global form, the following will apply to them:

 

 

Only the depositary will be entitled to transfer or exchange a purchase contract in global form, because it will be the sole holder of the purchase contract.

Additional Terms of Non-Prepaid Purchase Contracts

 

In addition to the general terms described above, a non-prepaid purchase contract may include the following additional terms described below.

 

Pledge by Holders to Secure Performance

 

If we specify in your prospectus supplement, the holder’s obligations under the purchase contract and governing document will be secured by collateral. In that case, the holder, acting through the unit agent as its attorney-in-fact, if applicable, will pledge the items described below to a collateral agent named in the prospectus supplement, which will hold them, for our benefit, as collateral to secure the holder’s obligations. We refer to this as the “pledge” and all the items described below as the “pledged items.” The pledge will create in our favor a security interest in the holder’s entire interest in and to:

 

 

The collateral agent will forward all payments from the pledged items to us, unless the payments have been released from the pledge in accordance with the purchase contract and the governing document. We will use the payments from the pledged items to satisfy the holder’s obligations under the purchase contract.

 

Settlement of Purchase Contracts that are Part of Units

 

The following will apply to a non-prepaid purchase contract that is issued together with any of our debt securities as part of a unit. If the holder fails to satisfy its obligations under the purchase contract, the unit agent may apply the principal payments on the debt securities to satisfy those obligations as provided in the governing document. If the holder is permitted to settle its obligations by cash payment, the holder may be permitted to do so by delivering the debt securities in the unit to the unit agent as provided in the governing document.

 

 

 

Failure of Holder to Perform Obligations under a Non-Prepaid Purchase Contract

 

If the holder fails to settle its obligations under a non-prepaid purchase contract as required, the holder will not receive the purchase contract property or other consideration to be delivered at settlement. Holders that fail to make timely settlement may also be obligated to pay interest or other amounts.

 

Assumption of Obligations by Transferee

 

When the holder of a non-prepaid purchase contract transfers the purchase contract to a new holder, the new holder will assume the obligations of the prior holder with respect to the purchase contract, and the prior holder will be released from those obligations. Under the non-prepaid purchase contract, we will consent to the transfer of the purchase contract, to the assumption of those obligations by the new holder and to the release of the prior holder, if the transfer is made in accordance with the provisions of the purchase contract.

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

Purchase contracts that are not prepaid will not restrict our ability to merge or consolidate with, or sell our assets to, another corporation or firm or to engage in any other transactions. If at any time we merge or consolidate with, or sell substantially all of our assets to, another corporation or firm, the successor corporation or firm will succeed to and assume our obligations, under these purchase contracts. We will then be relieved of any further obligation under these purchase contracts. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in our credit rating, may reduce our operating results or may impair our financial condition. Holders of our purchase contracts, however, will have no right to vote with respect to any transaction of this type.

 

No Events of Default

 

Purchase contracts that are not prepaid will not provide for any specific events of default.

 

Payments and Notices

 

We will describe the plan that we will use to make payments and give notices with respect to purchase contracts in a separate supplement to this prospectus.

 

Calculation Agent

 

Calculations relating to purchase contracts will be made by the calculation agent, an institution that we appoint as our agent for this purpose. That institution may be a subsidiary of ours. The prospectus supplement for a particular purchase contract will name the institution that we have appointed to act as the calculation agent for that purchase contract as of its original issue date. We may appoint a different institution to serve as calculation agent from time to time after the original issue date of the purchase contract without your consent and without notifying you of the change.

 

The calculation agent’s determination of any amount of money payable of purchase contract property deliverable with respect to a purchase contract will be final and binding in the absence of manifest error.

 

References to “AIG,” “us,” “we” or “our” in this section mean American International Group, Inc., and do not include the subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own units registered in their own names, on the books that we or our agent maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in units registered in street name or in units issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this section, we mean those who invest in the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those securities. Owners of beneficial interests in the units should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

General

 

We may issue units comprised of any combination of our debt securities, warrants, purchase contracts, junior subordinated debentures, preferred stock and common stock. Each unit will be issued so that the holder of the unit is also the holder of each security included in the unit. Thus, the holder of a unit will have the rights and obligations of a holder of each included security. The unit agreement under which a unit is issued may provide that the securities included in the unit may not be held or transferred separately, at any time or at any time before a specified date.

 

We may issue units in such amounts and in as many distinct series as we wish. This section summarizes terms of the units that apply generally to all series. We describe most of the financial and other specific terms of your series in the prospectus supplement accompanying this prospectus. Those terms may vary from the terms described here.

 

As you read this section, please remember that the specific terms of your unit as described in your prospectus supplement will supplement and, if applicable, may modify or replace the general terms described in this section. If there are differences between your prospectus supplement and this prospectus, your prospectus supplement will control. Thus, the statements we make in this section may not apply to your unit.

 

When we refer to a series of units, we mean all units issued as part of the same series under the applicable unit agreement. We will identify the series of which your units are a part in your prospectus supplement. When we refer to your prospectus supplement, we mean the prospectus supplement describing the specific terms of the units you purchase. The terms used in your prospectus supplement will have the meanings described in this prospectus, unless otherwise specified.

 

The applicable prospectus supplement may describe:

 

 

The applicable provisions described in this section, as well as those described under “Description of Debt Securities AIG May Offer,” “Description of Warrants AIG May Offer,” “Description of Purchase Contracts AIG May Offer,” “Description of Junior Subordinated Debentures AIG May Offer,” “Description of Preferred Stock AIG May Offer” and “Description of Common Stock AIG May Offer,” will apply to each unit and to each security included in each unit, respectively.

 

Unit Agreements Will Not Be Qualified under Trust Indenture Act

 

No unit agreement will be qualified as an indenture, and no unit agent will be required to qualify as a trustee, under the Trust Indenture Act. Therefore, holders of units issued under unit agreements will not have the protections of the Trust Indenture Act with respect to their units.

 

An investment in units may involve special risks, including risks associated with indexed securities and currency-related risks if the securities comprising the units are linked to an index or are payable in or otherwise

linked to a non-U.S. dollar currency. We describe some of these risks below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.”

 

Market-Making Transactions

 

One or more of our subsidiaries may purchase and resell units after their initial issuance in market-making transactions. We discuss these transactions below under “Plan of Distribution — Market-Making Resales by Subsidiaries.”

 

Unit Agreements: Prepaid, Non-Prepaid and Other

 

We will issue the units under one or more unit agreements to be entered into between us and a bank or other financial institution, as unit agent. We may add, replace or terminate unit agents from time to time. We may also choose to act as our own unit agent or may appoint one of our subsidiaries to do so. We will identify the unit agreement under which your units will be issued and the unit agent under that agreement in your prospectus supplement.

 

If a unit includes one or more purchase contracts and all those purchase contracts are prepaid purchase contracts, we will issue the unit under a “prepaid unit agreement.” Prepaid unit agreements will reflect the fact that the holders of the related units have no further obligations under the purchase contracts included in their units. If a unit includes one or more non-prepaid purchase contracts, we will issue the unit under a “non-prepaid unit agreement.” Non-prepaid unit agreements will reflect the fact that the holders have payment or other obligations under one or more of the purchase contracts comprising their units. We may also issue units under other kinds of unit agreements, which we will describe in your prospectus supplement. In some cases, we may issue units under one of our indentures.

 

A unit agreement may also serve as the governing document for a security included in a unit. For example, a non-prepaid purchase contract that is part of a unit may be issued under and governed by the relevant unit agreement.

 

In this prospectus, we refer to prepaid unit agreements, non-prepaid unit agreements and other unit agreements, generally, as “unit agreements.” The unit agreements and the units will be governed by New York law. The unit agreement under which we issue your units will be filed with the SEC, either as an exhibit to an amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or as an exhibit to a current report on Form 8-K. See “Where You Can Find More Information” below for information on how to obtain a copy of a unit agreement when it is filed.

 

Principal Unit Agreement Terms

 

The following provisions will generally apply to all unit agreements unless otherwise stated in your prospectus supplement.

 

Enforcement of Rights

 

The unit agent under a unit agreement will act solely as our agent in connection with the units issued under that agreement. The unit agent will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust for or with any holders of those units or of the securities comprising those units. The unit agent will not be obligated to take any action on behalf of those holders to enforce or protect their rights under the units or the included securities.

 

Except as described in the next paragraph, a holder of a unit may, without the consent of the unit agent or any other holder, enforce its rights as holder under any security included in the unit, in accordance with the terms of that security and the indenture, warrant agreement or purchase contract under which that security is issued. Those terms are described elsewhere in this prospectus under the sections relating to debt securities, warrants and purchase contracts.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, a unit agreement may limit or otherwise affect the ability of a holder of units issued under that agreement to enforce its rights, including any right to bring a legal action, with respect to those

units or any securities, other than debt securities, prepaid purchase contracts or warrants issued under an indenture qualified under the Trust Indenture Act, that are included in those units. Limitations of this kind will be described in your prospectus supplement.

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer

 

Unless otherwise stated in your prospectus supplement, we will issue each unit in global — i.e., book-entry — form only. Units in book-entry form will be represented by a global security registered in the name of a depositary, which will be the holder of all the units represented by the global security. Those who own beneficial interests in a unit will do so through participants in the depositary’s system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry securities below under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

In addition, we will issue each unit in registered form, unless we say otherwise in the prospectus supplement. Each unit and all securities comprising the unit will be issued in the same form. If we issue any units in registered, non-global form, the following will apply to them:

 

 

Only the depositary will be entitled to transfer or exchange a unit in global form, since it will be the sole holder of the unit.

 

Modification and Waiver of the Units

 

There are three types of changes we can make to the unit agreement and the units issued under that unit agreement:

 

Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders.  First, we may not amend any particular unit or a unit agreement with respect to any particular unit unless we obtain the consent of the holder of that unit, if the amendment would:

 

 

 

Changes Requiring a Majority Vote.  Second, any other change to a particular unit agreement and the units issued under that agreement would require the following approval:

 

 

These provisions regarding changes with majority approval apply to changes affecting any securities issued under a unit agreement, as the governing document.

 

Changes Not Requiring Approval.  Third, we and the applicable unit agent may amend any unit or unit agreement without the consent of any holder:

 

 

We do not need any approval to make changes that affect only units to be issued after the changes take effect. We may also make changes that do not adversely affect in any material respect a particular unit, even if they adversely affect in any material respect other units. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of the unaffected unit; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected units.

 

The foregoing applies also to any security issued under a unit agreement, as the governing document.

 

Additional Provisions of a Non-Prepaid Unit Agreement

 

In addition to the provisions described above, a non-prepaid unit agreement will include the provisions described below:

 

Obligations of Unit Holder

 

Each holder of units issued under a non-prepaid unit agreement will:

 

 

The unit agreement for a unit that includes a non-prepaid purchase contract will also include provisions regarding the holder’s pledge of collateral and special settlement provisions. These are described above under “Description of Purchase Contracts AIG May Offer — Additional Terms of Non-Prepaid Purchase Contracts.”

 

Failure of Holder to Perform Obligations

 

If the holder fails to settle its obligations under a non-prepaid purchase contract included in a unit as required, the holder will not receive the purchase contract property or other consideration to be delivered at settlement of the purchase contract. Holders that fail to make timely settlement may also be obligated to pay interest or other amounts.

Assumption of Obligations by Transferee

 

When the holder of a unit issued under a non-prepaid unit agreement transfers the unit to a new holder, the new holder will assume the obligations of the prior holder with respect to each purchase contract included in the unit, and the prior holder will be released from those obligations. Under the non-prepaid unit agreement, we will consent to the transfer of the unit, to the assumption of those obligations by the new holder and to the release of the prior holder, if the transfer is made in accordance with the provisions of that agreement.

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

The non-prepaid unit agreements will not restrict our ability to merge or consolidate with, or sell our assets to, another corporation or firm or to engage in any other transactions. If at any time we merge or consolidate with, or sell substantially all of our assets to, another corporation or firm, the successor corporation or firm will succeed to and assume our obligations under the unit agreements. We will then be relieved of any further obligation under the units and the unit agreements. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in our credit rating, may reduce our operating results or may impair our financial condition. Holders of units will have no right to vote with respect to any transaction of this type.

 

No Events of Default

 

The non-prepaid unit agreements will not provide for any specific events of default.

 

Payments and Notices

 

We will describe the plan we will use to make payments and give notices with respect to our units in a separate supplement to this prospectus.

 

References to “AIG,” “us,” “we” or “our” in this section mean American International Group, Inc., and do not include the subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own shares of preferred stock or depositary shares, as the case may be, registered in their own names, on the books that the registrar or we maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in shares registered in street name or in shares issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this section, we mean all purchasers of the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those securities. Owners of beneficial interests in shares of preferred stock or depositary shares should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

General

 

We may issue preferred stock in one or more series. We may also “reopen” a previously issued series of preferred stock and issue additional preferred stock of that series. In addition, we may issue preferred stock together with other preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, purchase contracts and common stock in the form of units as described above under “Description of Units AIG May Offer.” This section summarizes terms of the preferred stock that apply generally to all series. The description of most of the financial and other specific terms of your series will be in your prospectus supplement. Those terms may vary from the terms described here.

 

Because this section is a summary, it does not describe every aspect of the preferred stock and any related depositary shares. As you read this section, please remember that the specific terms of your series of preferred stock and any related depositary shares as described in your prospectus supplement will supplement and, if applicable, may modify or replace the general terms described in this section. If there are differences between your prospectus supplement and this prospectus, your prospectus supplement will control. Thus, the statements we make in this section may not apply to your series of preferred stock or any related depositary shares.

 

Reference to a series of preferred stock means all of the shares of preferred stock issued as part of the same series under a certificate of designations filed as part of our restated certificate of incorporation. Reference to your prospectus supplement means the prospectus supplement describing the specific terms of the preferred stock and any related depositary shares you purchase. The terms used in your prospectus supplement will have the meanings described in this prospectus, unless otherwise specified.

 

Our authorized capital stock includes 6,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $5.00 per share. The preferred stock will be governed by Delaware law. We do not have any preferred stock outstanding as of the date of this prospectus. The prospectus supplement with respect to any offered preferred stock will describe any preferred stock that may be outstanding as of the date of the prospectus supplement.

 

Preferred Stock Issued in Separate Series

 

The authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock are available for issuance from time to time at the discretion of our board of directors without shareholder approval. Our board of directors is authorized to divide the preferred stock into series and, with respect to each series, to determine the designations, the powers, preferences and rights and the qualifications, limitations and restrictions of the series, including:

 

 

 

In addition, as described below under “— Fractional or Multiple Shares of Preferred Stock Issued as Depositary Shares”, we may, at our option, instead of offering whole individual shares of any series of preferred stock, offer depositary shares evidenced by depositary receipts, each representing a fraction of a share or some multiple of shares of the particular series of preferred stock issued and deposited with a depositary. The fraction of a share or multiple of shares of preferred stock which each depositary share represents will be stated in the prospectus supplement relating to any series of preferred stock offered through depositary shares.

 

The rights of holders of preferred stock may be adversely affected by the rights of holders of preferred stock that may be issued in the future. Our board of directors may cause shares of preferred stock to be issued in public or private transactions for any proper corporate purpose. Examples of proper corporate purposes include issuances to obtain additional financing for acquisitions and issuances to officers, directors and employees under their respective benefit plans. Our issuance of shares of preferred stock may have the effect of discouraging or making more difficult an acquisition.

 

Preferred stock will be fully paid and nonassessable when issued, which means that our holders will have paid their purchase price in full and that we may not ask them to surrender additional funds. Unless otherwise provided in your prospectus supplement, holders of preferred stock will not have preemptive or subscription rights to acquire more stock of AIG.

 

The transfer agent, registrar, dividend disbursing agent and redemption agent for shares of each series of preferred stock will be named in the prospectus supplement relating to that series.

 

Market-Making Transactions

 

One or more of our subsidiaries may purchase and resell preferred stock and depositary shares after their initial issuance in market-making transactions. We describe these transactions below under “Plan of Distribution — Market-Making Resales by Subsidiaries.” We may also purchase, in our discretion, preferred stock and depositary shares to be held, resold or canceled.

 

Form of Preferred Stock and Depositary Shares

 

We may issue preferred stock in book-entry form. Preferred stock in book-entry form will be represented by a global security registered in the name of a depositary, which will be the holder of all the shares of preferred stock represented by the global security. Those who own beneficial interests in shares of preferred stock will do so through participants in the depositary’s system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. However, beneficial owners of any preferred stock in book-entry form will have the right to obtain their shares in non-global form. We describe book-entry securities below under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.” All preferred stock will be issued in registered form.

 

We will issue depositary shares in book-entry form, to the same extent as we describe above for preferred stock. All depositary shares will be issued in registered form.

 

Overview of Remainder of this Description

 

The remainder of this description summarizes:

 

 

Preferred Stockholders’ Rights

 

Rank

 

Shares of each series of preferred stock will rank senior to our common stock with respect to dividends and distributions of assets. However, we will generally be able to pay dividends and distributions of assets to holders of our preferred stock only if we have satisfied our obligations on our indebtedness then due and payable.

 

Dividends

 

Holders of each series of preferred stock will be entitled to receive cash dividends when, as and if declared by our board of directors, from funds legally available for the payment of dividends. The rates and dates of payment of dividends for each series of preferred stock will be stated in your prospectus supplement. Dividends will be payable to holders of record of preferred stock as they appear on our books on the record dates fixed by our board of directors. Dividends on any series of preferred stock may be cumulative or noncumulative, as set forth in the prospectus supplement.

 

Redemption

 

If specified in your prospectus supplement, a series of preferred stock may be redeemable at any time, in whole or in part, at our option or the holder’s, and may be redeemed mandatorily.

 

Any restriction on the repurchase or redemption by us of our preferred stock while there is an arrearage in the payment of dividends will be described in your prospectus supplement.

 

Any partial redemptions of preferred stock will be made in a way that our board of directors decides is equitable.

 

Unless we default in the payment of the redemption price, dividends will cease to accrue after the redemption date on shares of preferred stock called for redemption and all rights of holders of these shares, including voting rights, will terminate except for the right to receive the redemption price.

 

Conversion or Exchange Rights

 

Our prospectus supplement relating to any series of preferred stock that is convertible, exercisable or exchangeable will state the terms on which shares of that series are convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for shares of common stock, another series of preferred stock or other securities or debt or equity securities of third parties.

 

Liquidation Preference

 

Upon any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution or winding up of AIG, holders of each series of preferred stock will be entitled to receive distributions upon liquidation in the amount described in your prospectus supplement, plus an amount equal to any accrued and unpaid dividends. These distributions will be made before any distribution is made on our common stock. If the liquidation amounts payable relating to the preferred stock of any series and any other parity securities ranking on a parity regarding liquidation rights are not paid in full, the holders of the preferred stock of that series and the other parity securities will share in any distribution of our available assets on a ratable basis in proportion to the full liquidation preferences of each security. Holders of our preferred stock will not be entitled to any other amounts from us after they have received their full liquidation preference and accrued and unpaid dividends.

 

Voting Rights

 

The holders of preferred stock of each series will have no voting rights, except:

 

 

Limitations on Rights

 

We have previously issued junior subordinated debentures that contain provisions that restrict our activities with respect to our preferred stock. Specifically, the issued debentures provide that if an event of default has occurred and is continuing with respect to the issued debentures or we have given notice of our election to defer interest payments on the issued debentures but the related deferral period has not yet commenced or a deferral period is continuing, then we will not, and will not permit any of our subsidiaries to: (a) declare or pay any dividends or distributions on, or redeem, purchase, acquire or make a liquidation payment with respect to, any shares of our capital stock, (b) make any payment of principal of, or interest or premium, if any, on, or repay, purchase or redeem any of our debt securities that upon our liquidation rank pari passu with or junior to the issued debentures or (c) make any guarantee payments with respect to any of our guarantees of the securities of any subsidiary if such guarantee ranks pari passu with, or junior in interest to, the issued debentures. However, these limitations do not apply to:

 

 

In addition, if any deferral period for the issued debentures lasts longer than one year, neither we nor any of our subsidiaries will be permitted to purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any securities ranking junior to or pari passu with any common stock, certain qualifying warrants and certain qualifying non-cumulative preferred stock, the proceeds of which were used to settle deferred interest during the relevant deferral period until the first anniversary of the date on which all deferred interest has been paid, subject to the exceptions listed above. However, if we are involved in a business combination where immediately after its consummation more than 50% of the surviving or resulting entity’s voting stock is owned by the shareholders of the other party to the business combination or continuing directors cease for any reason to constitute a majority of the surviving or resulting

entity’s board of directors, then the one-year restriction on repurchases described in the previous sentence will not apply to any deferral period that is terminated on the next interest payment date following the date of consummation of the business combination.

 

Fractional or Multiple Shares of Preferred Stock Issued as Depositary Shares

 

We may choose to offer fractional shares or some multiple of shares of our preferred stock, rather than whole individual shares. If we decide to do so, we will issue the preferred stock in the form of depositary shares. Each depositary share would represent a fraction or multiple of a share of the preferred stock and would be evidenced by a depositary receipt.

 

Deposit Agreement

 

We will deposit the shares of preferred stock to be represented by depositary shares under a deposit agreement. The parties to the deposit agreement will be:

 

 

Each holder of a depositary share will be entitled to all the rights and preferences of the underlying preferred stock, including, where applicable, dividend, voting, redemption, conversion and liquidation rights, in proportion to the applicable fraction or multiple of a share of preferred stock represented by the depositary share. The depositary shares will be evidenced by depositary receipts issued under the deposit agreement. The depositary receipts will be distributed to those persons purchasing the fractional or multiple shares of preferred stock. A depositary receipt may evidence any number of whole depositary shares.

 

We will file the deposit agreement, including the form of depositary receipt, with the SEC, either as an exhibit to an amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part or as an exhibit to a current report on Form 8-K. See “Where You Can Find More Information” below for information on how to obtain a copy of the form of deposit agreement.

 

Dividends and Other Distributions

 

The preferred stock depositary will distribute any cash dividends or other cash distributions received in respect of the deposited preferred stock to the record holders of depositary shares relating to the underlying preferred stock in proportion to the number of depositary shares owned by the holders. The preferred stock depositary will distribute any property received by it other than cash to the record holders of depositary shares entitled to those distributions, unless it determines that the distribution cannot be made proportionally among those holders or that it is not feasible to make a distribution. In that event, the preferred stock depositary may, with our approval, sell the property and distribute the net proceeds from the sale to the holders of the depositary shares in proportion to the number of depositary shares they own.

 

The amounts distributed to holders of depositary shares will be reduced by any amounts required to be withheld by the preferred stock depositary or by us on account of taxes or other governmental charges.

 

Redemption of Preferred Stock

 

If we redeem preferred stock represented by depositary shares, the preferred stock depositary will redeem the depositary shares from the proceeds it receives from the redemption. The preferred stock depositary will redeem the depositary shares at a price per share equal to the applicable fraction or multiple of the redemption price per share of preferred stock. Whenever we redeem shares of preferred stock held by the preferred stock depositary, the preferred stock depositary will redeem as of the same date the number of depositary shares representing the redeemed shares

of preferred stock. If fewer than all the depositary shares are to be redeemed, the preferred stock depositary will select the depositary shares to be redeemed by lot or ratably or by any other equitable method it chooses.

 

After the date fixed for redemption, the depositary shares called for redemption will no longer be deemed to be outstanding, and all rights of the holders of those shares will cease, including voting rights, except the right to receive the amount payable and any other property to which the holders were entitled upon the redemption. To receive this amount or other property, the holders must surrender the depositary receipts evidencing their depositary shares to the preferred stock depositary. Any funds that we deposit with the preferred stock depositary for any depositary shares that the holders fail to redeem will be returned to us after a period of two years from the date we deposit the funds.

 

Withdrawal of Preferred Stock

 

Unless the related depositary shares have previously been called for redemption, any holder of depositary shares may receive the number of whole shares of the related series of preferred stock and any money or other property represented by those depositary receipts after surrendering the depositary receipts at the corporate trust office of the preferred stock depositary, paying any taxes, charges and fees provided for in the deposit agreement and complying with any other requirement of the deposit agreement. Holders of depositary shares making these withdrawals will be entitled to receive whole shares of preferred stock, but holders of whole shares of preferred stock will not be entitled to deposit that preferred stock under the deposit agreement or to receive depositary receipts for that preferred stock after withdrawal. If the depositary shares surrendered by the holder in connection with withdrawal exceed the number of depositary shares that represent the number of whole shares of preferred stock to be withdrawn, the preferred stock depositary will deliver to that holder at the same time a new depositary receipt evidencing the excess number of depositary shares.

 

Voting Deposited Preferred Stock

 

When the preferred stock depositary receives notice of any meeting at which the holders of any series of deposited preferred stock are entitled to vote, the preferred stock depositary will mail the information contained in the notice to the record holders of the depositary shares relating to the applicable series of preferred stock. Each record holder of the depositary shares on the record date, which will be the same date as the record date for the preferred stock, may instruct the preferred stock depositary to vote the amount of the preferred stock represented by the holder’s depositary shares. To the extent possible, the preferred stock depositary will vote the amount of the series of preferred stock represented by depositary shares in accordance with the instructions it receives. We will agree to take all reasonable actions that the preferred stock depositary determines are necessary to enable the preferred stock depositary to vote as instructed. If the preferred stock depositary does not receive specific instructions from the holders of any depositary shares representing a series of preferred stock, the preferred stock depositary will vote all shares of that series in proportion to the instructions received.

 

Conversion of Preferred Stock

 

If our prospectus supplement relating to the depositary shares says that the deposited preferred stock is convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for common stock, preferred stock of another series or other securities, or debt or equity securities of one or more third parties, our depositary shares, as such, will not be convertible into or exercisable or exchangeable for any securities. Rather, any holder of the depositary shares may surrender the related depositary receipts to the preferred stock depositary with written instructions to instruct us to cause conversion, exercise or exchange of our preferred stock represented by the depositary shares into or for whole shares of common stock, shares of another series of preferred stock or other securities or debt or equity securities of the relevant third party, as applicable. Upon receipt of those instructions and any amounts payable by the holder in connection with the conversion, exercise or exchange, we will cause the conversion, exercise or exchange using the same procedures as those provided for conversion, exercise or exchange of the deposited preferred stock. If only some of the depositary shares are to be converted, exercised or exchanged, a new depositary receipt or receipts will be issued for any depositary shares not to be converted, exercised or exchanged.

Amendment and Termination of the Deposit Agreement

 

We may amend the form of depositary receipt evidencing the depositary shares and any provision of the deposit agreement at any time and from time to time by agreement with the preferred stock depositary.

 

However, any amendment that imposes additional charges or materially and adversely alters any substantial existing right of the holders of depositary shares will not be effective unless the holders of at least a majority of the affected depositary shares then outstanding approve the amendment. We will make no amendment that impairs the right of any holder of depositary shares, as described above under “— Withdrawal of Preferred Stock,” to receive shares of the related series of preferred stock and any money or other property represented by those depositary shares, except in order to comply with mandatory provisions of applicable law. Holders who retain or acquire their depositary receipts after an amendment becomes effective will be deemed to have agreed to the amendment and will be bound by the amended deposit agreement.

 

The deposit agreement will automatically terminate if:

 

 

We may terminate the deposit agreement at any time, and the preferred stock depositary will give notice of that termination to the recordholders of all outstanding depositary receipts not less than 30 days before the termination date. In that event, the preferred stock depositary will deliver or make available for delivery to holders of depositary shares, upon surrender of the depositary receipt evidencing the depositary shares, the number of whole or fractional shares of the related series of preferred stock as are represented by those depositary shares.

 

Charges of Preferred Stock Depositary; Taxes and Other Governmental Charges

 

We will pay the fees, charges and expenses of our preferred stock depositary provided in the deposit agreement. Holders of depositary receipts will pay any taxes and governmental charges and any charges provided in the deposit agreement to be payable by them, including a fee for the withdrawal of shares of preferred stock upon surrender of depositary receipts. If the preferred stock depositary incurs fees, charges or expenses for which it is not otherwise liable at the election of a holder of a depositary receipt or other person, that holder or other person will be liable for those fees, charges and expenses.

 

Resignation and Removal of Depositary

 

The preferred stock depositary may resign at any time by giving us notice, and we may remove or replace the preferred stock depositary at any time.

 

Reports to Holders

 

We will deliver all required reports and communications to holders of the preferred stock to the preferred stock depositary, who will forward those reports and communications to the holders of depositary shares.

 

Limitation on Liability of the Preferred Stock Depositary

 

The preferred stock depositary will not be liable if we are prevented or delayed by law or any circumstances beyond our control in performing our obligations under the deposit agreement. The obligations of the preferred stock depositary under the deposit agreement will be limited to performance in good faith of its duties under the agreement, and the preferred stock depositary will not be obligated to prosecute or defend any legal proceeding in respect of any depositary shares, depositary receipts or shares of preferred stock unless satisfactory and reasonable protection from expenses and liability is furnished. This is called an indemnity. The preferred stock depositary may rely upon written advice of counsel or accountants, upon information provided by holders of depositary receipts or other persons believed to be competent and upon documents believed to be genuine.

 

AIG’s authorized capital stock includes 5,000,000,000 shares of common stock (par value $2.50 per share). As of April 30, 2007, there were 2,594,237,019 shares of common stock outstanding.

 

General

 

All of the outstanding shares of our common stock are fully paid and nonassessable. Subject to the prior rights of the holders of shares of preferred stock that may be issued and outstanding, none of which are currently outstanding, the holders of common stock are entitled to receive:

 

 

Each holder of common stock is entitled to one vote for each share held of record on all matters presented to a vote at a shareholders meeting, including the election of directors. Holders of common stock have no cumulative voting rights or preemptive rights to purchase or subscribe for any additional shares of common stock or other securities and there are no conversion rights or redemption or sinking fund provisions with respect to the common stock. Additional authorized shares of common stock may be issued without shareholder approval.

 

Impact of Other Securities

 

We have previously issued junior subordinated debentures that contain provisions that restrict our activities with respect to our common stock. Specifically, the issued debentures provide that if an event of default has occurred and is continuing with respect to the issued debentures or we have given notice of our election to defer interest payments on the issued debentures but the related deferral period has not yet commenced or a deferral period is continuing, then we will not, and will not permit any of our subsidiaries to: (a) declare or pay any dividends or distributions on, or redeem, purchase, acquire or make a liquidation payment with respect to, any shares of our capital stock, (b) make any payment of principal of, or interest or premium, if any, on, or repay, purchase or redeem any of our debt securities that upon our liquidation rank pari passu with or junior to the issued debentures or (c) make any guarantee payments with respect to any of our guarantees of the securities of any subsidiary if such guarantee ranks pari passu with, or junior in interest to, the issued debentures. However, these limitations do not apply to:

 

 

 

In addition, if any deferral period for the issued debentures lasts longer than one year, neither we nor any of our subsidiaries will be permitted to purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any securities ranking junior to or pari passu with any common stock, certain qualifying warrants and certain qualifying non-cumulative preferred stock, the proceeds of which were used to settle deferred interest during the relevant deferral period until the first anniversary of the date on which all deferred interest has been paid, subject to the exceptions listed above. However, if we are involved in a business combination where immediately after its consummation more than 50% of the surviving or resulting entity’s voting stock is owned by the shareholders of the other party to the business combination or continuing directors cease for any reason to constitute a majority of the surviving or resulting entity’s board of directors, then the one-year restriction on repurchases described in the previous sentence will not apply to any deferral period that is terminated on the next interest payment date following the date of consummation of the business combination.

 

Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law

 

Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law applies to AIG. In general, Section 203 prohibits a publicly held Delaware corporation from engaging in a “business combination” with an “interested stockholder” for a period of three years after the date of the transaction in which the person became an interested stockholder, unless the business combination is approved in a prescribed manner. A “business combination” includes a merger, asset sale or a transaction resulting in a financial benefit to the interested stockholder. An “interested stockholder” is a person who, together with affiliates and associates, owns (or, in certain cases, within the preceding three years, did own) 15% or more of the corporation’s outstanding voting stock. Under Section 203, a business combination between us and an interested stockholder is prohibited unless it satisfies one of the following conditions:

 

 

The table below sets forth, for the calendar quarters indicated, the high and low closing sales prices per share of common stock of AIG as reported on the New York Stock Exchange and the dividends per share of common stock declared by AIG during those periods.

 

Shares of common stock of AIG are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and trade under the symbol “AIG.”

 

 

As of March 23, 2007, there were approximately 57,500 holders of record of AIG’s common stock.

 

Subject to the dividend preference of any of our preferred stock that may be outstanding, the holders of common stock will be entitled to receive dividends that may be declared by our board of directors from funds legally available for the payment of dividends. There are restrictions that apply under applicable insurance laws, however, to the payment of dividends to us by our insurance subsidiaries.

 

References to “AIG,” “us,” “we” or “our” in this section mean American International Group, Inc., and do not include the subsidiaries of American International Group, Inc. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own junior subordinated debentures registered in their own names, on the books that we or our agent maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in junior subordinated debentures registered in street name or in junior subordinated debentures issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this section, we mean those who invest in the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those securities. Owners of beneficial interests in the junior subordinated debentures should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

The junior subordinated debentures will be governed by a junior subordinated indenture or by a subordinated junior subordinated indenture, as supplemented for the particular series, and will be a contract between us and the indenture trustee, which will initially be The Bank of New York. We refer to our junior subordinated indenture or subordinated junior subordinated indenture, as applicable, as the “junior debt indenture” in this prospectus. The indenture trustee has two main roles:

 

 

The junior debt indenture and its associated documents contain the full legal text of the matters described in this section. The junior debt indenture and the junior subordinated debentures are governed by New York law. Copies of our junior debt indentures are exhibits to our registration statement. See “Where You Can Find More Information” below for information on how to obtain a copy.

 

General

 

We may issue as many distinct series of junior subordinated debentures under the junior debt indenture as we wish. The provisions of the junior debt indenture allow us not only to issue junior subordinated debentures with terms different from those previously issued, but also to “reopen” a previous issue of a series of junior subordinated debentures and issue additional junior subordinated debentures of that series.

 

This section summarizes the material terms of the junior subordinated debentures that are common to all series, although the prospectus supplement may also describe differences from the material terms summarized here.

 

Because this section is a summary, it does not describe every aspect of the junior subordinated debentures. This summary is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to all the provisions of the junior debt indenture, including definitions of certain terms used in the junior debt indenture. In this summary, we describe the meaning of only some of the more important terms. You must look to the junior debt indenture for the most complete description of what we describe in summary form in this prospectus.

 

The prospectus supplement relating to any offered junior subordinated debentures will describe the following terms of the series:

 

 

 

Overview of Remainder of this Description

 

The remainder of this description summarizes:

 

 

Additional Mechanics

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer

 

Unless we specify otherwise in the prospectus supplement, the junior subordinated debentures will be issued:

 

 

If a junior subordinated debenture is issued as a global junior subordinated debenture, only the depositary — e.g., DTC, Euroclear and Clearstream, each as defined below under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance” — will be entitled to transfer and exchange the junior subordinated debenture as described in this subsection, since the depositary will be the sole holder of that junior subordinated debenture. Those who own beneficial interests in a global security do so through participants in the depositary’s securities clearance system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry procedures below under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

Holders may have their junior subordinated debentures broken into more junior subordinated debentures of smaller denominations of not less than $25 or combined into fewer junior subordinated debentures of larger denominations, as long as the total principal amount is not changed. This is called an exchange.

 

Subject to the restrictions relating to junior subordinated debentures represented by global securities, holders may exchange or transfer junior subordinated debentures at the office of the indenture trustee. They may also replace lost, stolen or mutilated junior subordinated debentures at that office. The indenture trustee acts as our agent for registering junior subordinated debentures in the names of holders and transferring junior subordinated debentures. We may change this appointment to another entity or perform it ourselves. The entity performing the role of maintaining the list of registered holders is called the security registrar. It will also perform transfers. The indenture trustee’s agent may require an indemnity before replacing any junior subordinated debentures.

 

Holders will not be required to pay a service charge to transfer or exchange junior subordinated debentures, but holders may be required to pay for any tax or other governmental charge associated with the exchange or transfer. The transfer or exchange will only be made if the security registrar is satisfied with your proof of ownership.

 

If we designate additional transfer agents, they will be named in the prospectus supplement. We may cancel the designation of any particular transfer agent. We may also approve a change in the office through which any transfer agent acts.

 

In the event of any redemption, neither we nor the indenture trustee will be required to:

 

 

Payment and Paying Agents

 

Your prospectus supplement will specify the manner in which payments will be made. The paying agent for the junior subordinated debentures will initially be the indenture trustee.

 

Notices

 

We and the indenture trustee will send notices regarding the junior subordinated debentures only to holders, using their addresses as listed in the indenture trustee’s records.

Option to Defer Interest Payments

 

If provided in your prospectus supplement, so long as no event of default with respect to the junior subordinated debentures has occurred and is continuing as a result of any failure by us to pay any amounts with respect to the junior subordinated debentures, we will have the right at any time and from time to time during the term of any series of junior subordinated debentures to defer payment of interest for an extension period of up to the number of consecutive interest payment periods specified in your prospectus supplement. The extension period is subject to the terms, conditions and covenants, if any, specified in your prospectus supplement. U.S. federal income tax consequences and other special considerations applicable to any such junior subordinated debentures will be described in your prospectus supplement.

 

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, during any applicable extension period, we may not:

 

 

 

Prior to the termination of any applicable extension period, we may further defer the payment of interest.

 

Redemption

 

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, we may, at our option redeem the junior subordinated debentures of any series in whole at any time or in part from time to time. If the junior subordinated debentures of any series are redeemable only on or after a specified date or upon the satisfaction of additional conditions, the applicable prospectus supplement will specify this date or describe these conditions. Unless otherwise indicated in the form of security for such series, junior subordinated debentures in denominations larger than $25 may be redeemed in part but only in integral multiples of $25. Except as otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement, the redemption price for any junior subordinated debenture will equal any accrued and unpaid interest, including additional interest, to the redemption date, plus 100% of the principal amount.

Except as otherwise specified in the applicable prospectus supplement, if a tax event of the kind described below or an additional event described in the applicable prospectus supplement with respect to a series of junior subordinated debentures has occurred and is continuing, we may, at our option redeem that series of junior subordinated debentures in whole, but not in part, at any time within 90 days following the occurrence of the tax event, at a redemption price equal to 100% of the principal amount of the junior subordinated debentures then outstanding plus accrued and unpaid interest to the date fixed for redemption.

 

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, a “tax event” means the receipt by us of an opinion of independent counsel, experienced in tax matters, to the effect that, as a result of any tax change, there is more than an insubstantial risk that any of the following will occur:

 

 

As used above, the term “tax change” means any of the following:

 

 

Notice of any redemption will be mailed at least 45 days but not more than 75 days before the redemption date to each holder of junior subordinated debentures to be redeemed at its registered address. Unless we default in payment of the redemption price, on and after the redemption date interest will cease to accrue on the junior subordinated debentures or portions thereof called for redemption.

 

Special Situations

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

We are generally permitted to consolidate or merge with another company or firm. We are also permitted to sell or lease substantially all of our assets to another firm, or to buy or lease substantially all of the assets of another firm. However, we may not take any of these actions unless all the following conditions are met:

 

 

If the conditions described above are satisfied with respect to any series of junior subordinated debentures, we will not need to obtain the approval of the holders of those junior subordinated debentures in order to merge or consolidate or to sell our assets. Also, these conditions will apply only if we wish to merge or consolidate with another entity or sell our assets substantially as an entirety to another entity. We will not need to satisfy these conditions if we enter into other types of transactions, including any transaction in which we acquire the stock or assets of another entity, any transaction that involves a change of control but in which we do not merge or consolidate and any transaction in which we sell less than substantially all of our assets. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in our credit rating or may reduce our operating results or impair our financial condition. Holders of our junior subordinated debentures, however, will have no approval right with respect to any transaction of this type.

 

Modification and Waiver of the Junior Subordinated Debentures

 

There are four types of changes we can make to the junior debt indenture and the junior subordinated debentures issued under that indenture.

 

Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders.  First, there are changes that cannot be made to the junior subordinated debentures without specific approval of each holder of a junior subordinated debenture affected by the change. Affected junior subordinated debentures may be all or less than all of the junior subordinated debentures issued under that junior debt indenture or all or less than all of the junior subordinated debentures of a series. Following is a list of those types of changes:

 

 

We may, with the indenture trustee’s consent, execute, without the consent of any holder of junior subordinated debentures, any supplemental indenture for the purpose of creating any new series of junior subordinated debentures.

 

Changes Requiring a Majority Vote.  The second type of change to the junior debt indenture and the junior subordinated debentures is the kind that requires a vote in favor by holders of junior subordinated debentures owning a majority of the principal amount of the particular series affected or, if so provided and to the extent permitted by the Trust Indenture Act, of particular junior subordinated debentures affected thereby. Most changes fall into this category, except for clarifying changes and certain other changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect holders of the junior subordinated debentures. We may also obtain a waiver of a past default from the holders of junior subordinated debentures owning a majority of the principal amount of the particular series affected. However, we cannot obtain a waiver of a payment default or any other aspect of the junior debt indenture or the junior subordinated debentures listed in the first category described above under “— Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders” unless we obtain the individual consent of each holder to the waiver.

 

Changes Not Requiring Approval.  The third type of change does not require any vote by holders of junior subordinated debentures. This type is limited to clarifications and certain other changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect holders of the junior subordinated debentures.

We may also make changes or obtain waivers that do not adversely affect in any material respect a particular junior subordinated debenture, even if they affect other junior subordinated debentures. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of that junior subordinated debenture; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected junior subordinated debentures.

 

Modification of Subordination Provisions.  We may not modify the subordination provisions of the junior debt indenture in a manner that would adversely affect in any material respect the outstanding junior subordinated debentures, without the consent of the holders of a majority in principal amount of the particular series affected or, if so provided and to the extent permitted by the Trust Indenture Act, of particular junior subordinated debentures affected thereby. Also, we may not modify the subordination provisions of any outstanding junior subordinated debentures without the consent of each holder of our senior indebtedness that would be adversely affected thereby. The term “senior indebtedness” is defined below under “Subordination Provisions”.

 

Subordination Provisions

 

Holders of junior subordinated debentures should recognize that contractual provisions in the junior subordinated debenture may prohibit us from making payments on those debentures. Junior subordinated debentures are subordinate and junior in right of payment, to the extent and in the manner stated in the junior debt indenture, to all of our senior indebtedness, as defined in the junior debt indenture.

 

The junior debt indenture defines “senior indebtedness” as all indebtedness and obligations of, or guaranteed or assumed by, us for borrowed money or evidenced by bonds, debentures, notes or other similar instruments, whether existing now or in the future, and all amendments, renewals, extensions, modifications and refundings of any indebtedness or obligations of that kind. Senior debt excludes the junior subordinated debentures and any other indebtedness or obligations that would otherwise constitute indebtedness if it is specifically designated as being subordinate, or not superior, in right of payment to the subordinated junior subordinated debentures.

 

The junior debt indenture provides that, unless all principal of and any premium or interest on the senior indebtedness has been paid in full, no payment or other distribution may be made with respect to any junior subordinated debentures in the following circumstances:

 

 

If the indenture trustee under the junior debt indenture or any holders of the junior subordinated debentures receive any payment or distribution that is prohibited under the subordination provisions, then the indenture trustee or the holders will have to repay that money to the holders of the senior indebtedness.

 

Even if the subordination provisions prevent us from making any payment when due on the junior subordinated debentures of any series, we will be in default on our obligations under that series if we do not make the payment when due. This means that the indenture trustee under the junior subordinated debenture and the holders of that series can take action against us, but they will not receive any money until the claims of the holders of senior indebtedness have been fully satisfied. The junior debt indenture allows the holders of senior indebtedness to obtain a court order requiring us and any holder of junior subordinated debentures to comply with the subordination provisions.

Defeasance

 

The following discussion of full defeasance and covenant defeasance will be applicable to each series of junior subordinated debentures that is denominated in U.S. dollars and has a fixed rate of interest and will apply to other series of junior subordinated debentures if we so specify in the prospectus supplement.

 

Full Defeasance

 

If there is a change in U.S. federal tax law, as described below, we can legally release ourselves from any payment or other obligations on the junior subordinated debentures, called full defeasance, if we put in place the following other arrangements for holders to be repaid:

 

 

If we ever did accomplish full defeasance, as described above, you would have to rely solely on the trust deposit for repayment on the junior subordinated debentures. You could not look to us for repayment in the unlikely event of any shortfall.

 

Covenant Defeasance

 

Under current U.S. federal tax law, we can make the same type of deposit as described above and we will be released from some of the restrictive covenants under the junior subordinated debentures that may be described in the prospectus supplement. This is called covenant defeasance. In that event, you would lose the protection of these covenants but would gain the protection of having money and U.S. government or U.S. government agency notes or bonds set aside in trust to repay the junior subordinated debentures. In order to achieve covenant defeasance, we must do the following:

 

 

If we accomplish covenant defeasance, the following provisions of the junior debt indenture and the junior subordinated debentures would no longer apply:

 

 

If we accomplish covenant defeasance, you can still look to us for repayment of the junior subordinated debentures if there were a shortfall in the trust deposit. In fact, if one of the remaining events of default occurred (such as a bankruptcy) and the junior subordinated debentures become immediately due and payable, there may be such a shortfall.

 

Events of Default

 

Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, holders will have special rights if an event of default occurs and is not cured, as described later in this subsection or in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

What Is An Event of Default?  Unless otherwise indicated in the applicable prospectus supplement, the term “Event of Default” means any of the following:

 

 

Remedies If an Event of Default Occurs.  If you are the holder of a junior subordinated debenture, all remedies available upon the occurrence of an event of default under the junior debt indenture will be subject to the restrictions on the junior subordinated debentures described above under “— Subordination Provisions.” If an event of default occurs, the indenture trustee will have special duties. In that situation, the indenture trustee will be obligated to use its rights and powers under the junior debt indenture, and to use the same degree of care and skill in doing so, that a prudent person would use in that situation in conducting his or her own affairs. If an event of default has occurred and has not been cured, the indenture trustee or the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the junior subordinated debentures of the affected series may declare the entire principal amount of all the junior subordinated debentures of that series to be due and immediately payable. This is called a declaration of acceleration of maturity. The property trustee may annul the declaration and waive the default, provided all defaults have been cured and all payment obligations have been made current. In the event of our bankruptcy, insolvency or reorganization, junior subordinated debentures holders’ claims would fall under the broad equity power of a federal bankruptcy court, and to that court’s determination of the nature of those holders’ rights.

 

The holders of a majority in aggregate outstanding principal amount of each series of junior subordinated debentures affected may, on behalf of the holders of all the junior subordinated debentures of that series, waive any default, except a default in the payment of principal or interest, including any additional interest (unless the default has been cured and a sum sufficient to pay all matured installments of interest, including any additional interest, and principal due otherwise than by acceleration has been deposited with the indenture trustee) or a default with respect to a covenant or provision which under the junior debt indenture cannot be modified or amended without the consent of the holder of each outstanding junior subordinated debenture of that series.

 

Except in cases of default, where the indenture trustee has the special duties described above, the indenture trustee is not required to take any action under the junior debt indenture at the request of any holders unless the

holders offer the indenture trustee reasonable protection from expenses and liability called an indemnity. If indemnity reasonably satisfactory to the trustee is provided, the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding junior subordinated debentures of the relevant series may direct the time, method and place of conducting any lawsuit or other formal legal action seeking any remedy available to the indenture trustee. These majority holders may also direct the indenture trustee in performing any other action under the junior debt indenture with respect to the junior subordinated debentures of that series.

 

Before you bypass the indenture trustee and bring your own lawsuit or other formal legal action or take other steps to enforce your rights or protect your interests relating to the junior subordinated debentures the following must occur:

 

 

We will give to the indenture trustee every year a written statement of certain of our officers certifying that to their knowledge we are in compliance with the applicable indenture and the junior subordinated debentures issued under it, or else specifying any default.

 

Conversion or Exchange

 

If indicated in your prospectus supplement, a series of junior subordinated debentures may be convertible or exchangeable into junior subordinated debentures of another series or other securities. The specific terms on which series may be converted or exchanged will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement. These terms may include provisions for conversion or exchange, whether mandatory, at the holder’s option, or at our option, in which case the number or amount of junior subordinated debentures or other securities the junior subordinated debenture holder would receive would be calculated at the time and manner described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

Impact of Other Securities

 

We have previously issued junior subordinated debentures that contain provisions that restrict our activities with respect to our common stock. Specifically, the issued debentures provide that if an event of default has occurred and is continuing with respect to the issued debentures or we have given notice of our election to defer interest payments on the issued debentures but the related deferral period has not yet commenced or a deferral period is continuing, then we will not, and will not permit any of our subsidiaries to: (a) declare or pay any dividends or distributions on, or redeem, purchase, acquire or make a liquidation payment with respect to, any shares of our capital stock, (b) make any payment of principal of, or interest or premium, if any, on, or repay, purchase or redeem any of our debt securities that upon our liquidation rank pari passu with or junior to the issued debentures or (c) make any guarantee payments with respect to any of our guarantees of the securities of any subsidiary if such guarantee ranks pari passu with, or junior in interest to, the issued debentures. However, these limitations do not apply to:

 

 

 

In addition, if any deferral period for the issued debentures lasts longer than one year, neither we nor any of our subsidiaries will be permitted to purchase, redeem or otherwise acquire any securities ranking junior to or pari passu with any common stock, certain qualifying warrants and certain qualifying non-cumulative preferred stock, the proceeds of which were used to settle deferred interest during the relevant deferral period until the first anniversary of the date on which all deferred interest has been paid, subject to the exceptions listed above. However, if we are involved in a business combination where immediately after its consummation more than 50% of the surviving or resulting entity’s voting stock is owned by the shareholders of the other party to the business combination or continuing directors cease for any reason to constitute a majority of the surviving or resulting entity’s board of directors, then the one-year restriction on repurchases described in the previous sentence will not apply to any deferral period that is terminated on the next interest payment date following the date of consummation of the business combination.

 

Our Relationship with the Trustee

 

For information concerning the relationships between The Bank of New York and us, see “— Our Relationship with the Trustee” above.

 

AIG, as Guarantor, will fully and unconditionally guarantee AIGPF’s payment obligations under the debt securities issued by AIGPF. In the event of a default in payment by AIGPF, holders may institute legal proceedings directly against the Guarantor to enforce its obligations without first proceeding against AIGPF. The Guarantees will constitute unsecured and unsubordinated obligations of the Guarantor ranking pari passu in right of payment with all of the Guarantor’s senior debt currently outstanding. You should note, however, that to the extent the Guarantor is required to satisfy any of its obligations under the Guarantees through the sale of insurance assets, such sale may require the consent of regulatory authorities. The specific terms of the Guarantees will be more fully described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

References to “AIGPF”, “us”, “we” or “our” in this section means AIG Program Funding, Inc., as Issuer. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own debt securities registered in their own names, on the books that we or the applicable trustee maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in debt securities registered in street name or in debt securities issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this prospectus, we mean those who invest in the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those securities. Owners of beneficial interests in the debt securities should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership And Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

We may issue as many distinct series of debt securities as we wish. The provisions of the indenture described below allow us not only to issue debt securities with terms different from those previously issued under the indenture, but also to “reopen” a previous issue of a series of debt securities and issue additional debt securities of that series. We may issue debt securities in amounts that exceed the total amount specified on the cover of your prospectus supplement at any time without your consent and without notifying you. In addition we may offer debt securities, together with other debt securities, warrants and purchase contracts in the form of units, as described below under “Description Of Units AIGPF May Offer.”

 

Our payment obligations under the debt securities will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by American International Group, Inc., as discussed earlier under “Description of AIG Guarantees.” As required by federal law for all bonds and notes of companies that are publicly offered, the debt securities are governed by a document called an indenture. The indenture is a contract among us as Issuer, AIG, as Guarantor, and The Bank of New York, as Trustee.

 

The trustee has two main roles:

 

1. The trustee can enforce the rights of holders against us if we default on our obligations under the terms of the indenture or the debt securities. There are some limitations on the extent to which the trustee acts on behalf of holders, described below under “Events of Default — Remedies If an Event of Default Occurs.”

 

2. The trustee performs administrative duties for us, such as sending interest payments to holders and notices, and transferring a holder’s debt securities to a new buyer if a holder sells.

 

The indenture and its associated documents contain the full legal text of the matters described in this section. The indenture and the debt securities are governed by New York law. A copy of the indenture is an exhibit to our registration statement. See “Where You Can Find More Information” below for information on how to obtain a copy.

 

General

 

This section summarizes the material terms of the debt securities that are common to all series, although the prospectus supplement which describes the terms of each series of debt securities may also describe differences with the material terms summarized here.

 

Because this section is a summary, it does not describe every aspect of the debt securities. This summary is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to all the provisions of the indenture, including definitions of certain terms used in the indenture. In this summary, we describe the meaning for only some of the more important terms. For your convenience, we also include references in parentheses to certain sections of the indenture. Whenever we refer to particular sections or defined terms of the indenture in this prospectus or in the prospectus supplement, such sections or defined terms are incorporated by reference here or in the prospectus supplement. You must look to the indenture for the most complete description of what we describe in summary form in this prospectus.

 

This summary also is subject to and qualified by reference to the description of the particular terms of your series described in the prospectus supplement. Those terms may vary from the terms described in this prospectus. The prospectus supplement relating to each series of debt securities will be attached to the front of this prospectus.

There may also be a further prospectus supplement, known as a pricing supplement, which contains the precise terms of debt securities you are offered.

 

We may issue the debt securities as original issue discount securities, which will be offered and sold at a substantial discount below their stated principal amount. (Section 101) The prospectus supplement relating to the original issue discount securities will describe federal income tax consequences and other special considerations applicable to them. The debt securities may also be issued as indexed securities or securities denominated in foreign currencies or currency units, as described in more detail in the prospectus supplement relating to any of the particular debt securities. Some of the risks associated with such debt securities issued are described below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and under “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.” The prospectus supplement relating to specific debt securities will also describe certain additional tax considerations applicable to such debt securities.

 

In addition, the specific financial, legal and other terms particular to a series of debt securities will be described in the prospectus supplement and, if applicable, the pricing supplement relating to the series. The prospectus supplement relating to a series of debt securities will describe the following terms of the series:

 

 

 

An investment in debt securities may involve special risks, including risks associated with indexed securities and currency-related risks if the debt security is linked to an index or is payable in or otherwise linked to a non-U.S. dollar currency. We describe some of these risks below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.”

 

Market-Making Transactions

 

One or more of AIG’s subsidiaries may purchase and resell debt securities in market-making transactions after their initial issuance. We discuss these transactions below under “Plan of Distribution — Market-Making Resales by Subsidiaries of AIG.” We may also purchase debt securities in the open market or in private transactions to be held by us or cancelled.

 

Overview of Remainder of this Description

 

The remainder of this description summarizes:

 

 

Additional Mechanics

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer

 

Unless we specify otherwise in the prospectus supplement, the debt securities will be issued:

 

 

If we issue a debt security in bearer form, the provisions described below under “Considerations Relating To Securities Issued In Bearer Form” would apply to that security. Some of the features of the debt securities that we describe in this prospectus may not apply to bearer debt securities.

 

If a debt security is issued as a global debt security, only the depositary — e.g., DTC, Euroclear and Clearstream, each as defined below — will be entitled to transfer and exchange the debt security as described in this subsection, since the depositary will be the sole holder of the debt security. Those who own beneficial interests in a global security do so through participants in the depositary’s securities clearance system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry procedures below under “Legal Ownership And Book-Entry Issuance.”

Holders may have their debt securities broken into more debt securities of smaller denominations of not less than $1,000 or combined into fewer debt securities of larger denominations, as long as the total principal amount is not changed. (Section 305) This is called an exchange.

 

Holders may exchange or transfer debt securities at the office of the trustee. They may also replace lost, stolen or mutilated debt securities at that office. The trustee acts as our agent for registering debt securities in the names of holders and transferring debt securities. We may change this appointment to another entity or perform it ourselves. The entity performing the role of maintaining the list of registered holders is called the security registrar. It will also perform transfers. (Section 305) The trustee’s agent may require an indemnity before replacing any debt securities.

 

Holders will not be required to pay a service charge to transfer or exchange debt securities, but holders may be required to pay for any tax or other governmental charge associated with the exchange or transfer. The transfer or exchange will only be made if the security registrar is satisfied with your proof of ownership.

 

If we designate additional transfer agents, they will be named in the prospectus supplement. We may cancel the designation of any particular transfer agent. We may also approve a change in the office through which any transfer agent acts. (Section 1002)

 

If the debt securities are redeemable and we redeem less than all of the debt securities of a particular series, we may block the transfer or exchange of debt securities during the period beginning 15 days before the day we mail the notice of redemption and ending on the day of that mailing, in order to freeze the list of holders to prepare the mailing. We may also refuse to register transfers or exchanges of debt securities selected for redemption, except that we will continue to permit transfers and exchanges of the unredeemed portion of any debt security being partially redeemed. (Section 305)

 

The rules for exchange described above apply to exchange of debt securities for other debt securities of the same series and kind. If a debt security is convertible, exercisable or exchangeable into or for a different kind of security, such as one that we have not issued, or for other property, the rules governing that type of conversion, exercise or exchange will be described in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

Payment and Paying Agents

 

We will pay interest to the person listed in the trustee’s records at the close of business on a particular day in advance of each due date for interest, even if that person no longer owns the debt security on the interest due date. That particular day, usually about two weeks in advance of the interest due date, is called the regular record date and is stated in the prospectus supplement. (Section 307) Holders buying and selling debt securities must work out between them how to compensate for the fact that we will pay all the interest for an interest period to the one who is the registered holder on the regular record date. The most common manner is to adjust the sale price of the securities to pro rate interest fairly between buyer and seller. This pro rated interest amount is called accrued interest.

 

We will pay interest, principal and any other money due on the debt securities at the corporate trust office of the trustee in New York City. That office is currently located at 101 Barclay Street, New York, New York 10286. Holders must make arrangements to have their payments picked up at or wired from that office. We may also choose to pay interest by mailing checks.

 

 

 

 

We may also arrange for additional payment offices and may cancel or change these offices, including our use of the trustee’s corporate trust office. These offices are called paying agents. We may also choose to act as our own paying agent or choose one of AIG’s subsidiaries to do so. We must notify holders of changes in the paying agents for any particular series of debt securities. (Section 1002)

Notices

 

We and the trustee will send notices regarding the debt securities only to holders, using their addresses as listed in the trustee’s records. (Sections 101 and 106) With respect to who is a legal “holder” for this purpose, see “Legal Ownership And Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

Regardless of whom acts as paying agent, all money paid by us to a paying agent that remains unclaimed at the end of two years after the amount is due to holders will be repaid to us. After that two-year period, holders may look to us for payment and not to the trustee or any other paying agent. (Section 1003)

 

Special Situations

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

We and the Guarantor are generally permitted to consolidate or merge with another company or firm. We are also permitted to sell or lease substantially all of our assets to another firm, or to buy or lease substantially all of the assets of another firm. However, we may not take any of these actions unless all the following conditions are met:

 

 

If the conditions described above are satisfied with respect to any series of debt securities, we and the Guarantor will not need to obtain the approval of the holders of those debt securities in order to merge or consolidate or to sell our assets. Also, these conditions will apply only if we or the Guarantor wish to merge or consolidate with another entity or sell substantially all of our assets to another entity. We and the Guarantor will not need to satisfy these conditions if we enter into other types of transactions, including any transaction in which we acquire the stock or assets of another entity, any transaction that involves a change of control but in which we do not merge or consolidate and any transaction in which we sell less than substantially all of our assets. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in AIG’s credit rating, may reduce our or AIG’s operating results or may impair our or AIG’s financial condition. Holders of our debt securities, however, will have no approval right with respect to any transaction of this type.

 

Modification and Waiver of the Debt Securities

 

There are three types of changes we can make to the indenture and the debt securities issued under that indenture.

 

Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders.  First, there are changes that cannot be made to the indenture or the debt securities without specific approval of each holder of a debt security affected in any material respect by the change under the indenture. Affected debt securities may be all or less than all of the debt securities issued under the indenture or all or less than all of the debt securities of a series. Following is a list of those types of changes:

 

 

 

Changes Requiring a Majority Vote.  The second type of change to the indenture and the debt securities is the kind that requires a vote in favor by holders of debt securities owning not less than a majority of the principal amount of the particular series affected or, if so provided and to the extent permitted by the Trust Indenture Act, of particular debt securities affected thereby. Most changes fall into this category, except for clarifying changes and certain other changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect holders of the debt securities. (Section 901) We may also obtain a waiver of a past default from the holders of debt securities owning a majority of the principal amount of the particular series affected. However, we cannot obtain a waiver of a payment default or any other aspect of the indenture or the debt securities listed in the first category described above under “— Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders” unless we obtain the individual consent of each holder to the waiver. (Section 513)

 

Changes Not Requiring Approval.  The third type of change to the indenture and the debt securities does not require any vote by holders of debt securities. This type is limited to clarifications and certain other changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect holders of the debt securities. (Section 901)

 

We may also make changes or obtain waivers that do not adversely affect in any material respect a particular debt security, even if they affect other debt securities. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of that debt security; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected debt securities.

 

Further Details Concerning Voting.  When taking a vote, we will use the following rules to decide how much principal amount to attribute to a debt security:

 

 

Debt securities will not be considered outstanding, and therefore not eligible to vote, if we have given a notice of redemption and deposited or set aside in trust for the holders money for the payment or redemption of the debt securities. Debt securities will also not be eligible to vote if they have been fully defeased as described below under “— Defeasance — Full Defeasance.” (Section 1302)

 

We will generally be entitled to set any day as a record date for the purpose of determining the holders of outstanding debt securities that are entitled to vote or take other action under the indenture. In certain limited circumstances, the trustee will be entitled to set a record date for action by holders. If we or the trustee set a record date for a vote or other action to be taken by holders of a particular series, that vote or action may be taken only by persons who are holders of outstanding securities of that series on the record date. We or the trustee, as applicable, may shorten or lengthen this period from time to time. (Section 104)

 

 

 

 

Defeasance

 

The following discussion of full defeasance and covenant defeasance will be applicable to each series of debt securities that is denominated in U.S. dollars and has a fixed rate of interest and will apply to other series of debt securities if we so specify in the prospectus supplement. (Section 1301)

 

Full Defeasance.  If there is a change in U.S. federal tax law, as described below, we can legally release ourselves from any payment or other obligations on the debt securities, called full defeasance, if we put in place the following other arrangements for holders to be repaid:

 

 

If we ever did accomplish full defeasance, as described above, you would have to rely solely on the trust deposit for repayment on the debt securities. You could not look to us for repayment in the unlikely event of any shortfall.

 

Covenant Defeasance.  Under current U.S. federal tax law, we can make the same type of deposit as described above and we and AIG will be released from the restrictive covenants under the debt securities that may be described in the prospectus supplement. This is called covenant defeasance. In that event, you would lose the protection of these restrictive covenants but would gain the protection of having money and U.S. government or U.S. government agency notes or bonds set aside in trust to repay the debt securities. In order to achieve covenant defeasance, we must do the following:

 

 

If we accomplish covenant defeasance, certain provisions of the indenture and the debt securities would no longer apply:

 

 

If we accomplish covenant defeasance, you can still look to us for repayment of the debt securities if there were a shortfall in the trust deposit. In fact, if one of the remaining events of default occurred (such as a bankruptcy) and the debt securities become immediately due and payable, there may be such a shortfall. (Sections 1303 and 1304)

 

Events of Default

 

You will have special rights if an event of default occurs and is not cured, as described later in this subsection.

 

What Is An Event of Default?  The term “Event of Default” means any of the following:

 

 

Remedies If an Event of Default Occurs.  If an event of default occurs, the trustee will have special duties. In that situation, the trustee will be obligated to use those of its rights and powers under the indenture, and to use the same degree of care and skill in doing so, that a prudent person would use in that situation in conducting his or her own affairs. If an event of default has occurred and has not been cured, the trustee or the holders of at least 25% in principal amount of the debt securities of the affected series may declare the entire principal amount (or, in the case of original issue discount securities, the portion of the principal amount that is specified in the terms of the affected debt security) of all the debt securities of that series to be due and immediately payable. This is called a declaration of acceleration of maturity. However, a declaration of acceleration of maturity may be cancelled, but only before a judgment or decree based on the acceleration has been obtained, by the holders of at least a majority in principal amount of the debt securities of the affected series. (Section 502)

 

You should read carefully the prospectus supplement relating to any series of debt securities which are original issue discount securities for the particular provisions relating to acceleration of the maturity of a portion of the principal amount of original issue discount securities upon the occurrence of an event of default and its continuation.

 

Except in cases of default, where the trustee has the special duties described above, the trustee is not required to take any action under the indenture at the request of any holders unless the holders offer the trustee reasonable protection from expenses and liability called an indemnity. (Section 603) If indemnity reasonably satisfactory to the trustee is provided, the holders of a majority in principal amount of the outstanding securities of the relevant series may direct the time, method and place of conducting any lawsuit or other formal legal action seeking any remedy available to the trustee. These majority holders may also direct the trustee in performing any other action under the indenture. (Section 512)

 

Before you bypass the trustee and bring your own lawsuit or other formal legal action or take other steps to enforce your rights or protect your interests relating to the debt securities or the guarantees the following must occur:

 

 

 

However, you are entitled at any time to bring a lawsuit for the payment of money due on your debt security on or after its due date. (Section 508)

 

 

 

 

We will give to the trustee every year a written statement of certain of our officers certifying that to their knowledge we are in compliance with the indenture and the debt securities, or else specifying any default. (Section 1004)

 

Our Relationship with the Trustee

 

The Bank of New York is one of AIG’s lenders and from time to time provides other banking services to AIG and its subsidiaries.

 

The Bank of New York is initially serving as the trustee for our debt securities and the warrants issued under our warrant indenture. Consequently, if an actual or potential event of default occurs with respect to any of these securities, the trustee may be considered to have a conflicting interest for purposes of the Trust Indenture Act of 1939. In that case, the trustee may be required to resign under one or more of the indentures, and we would be required to appoint a successor trustee. For this purpose, a “potential” event of default means an event that would be an event of default if the requirements for giving us default notice or for the default having to exist for a specific period of time were disregarded.

 

References to “AIGPF”, “us”, “we” or “our” in this section means AIG Program Funding, Inc., as Issuer. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own warrants registered in their own names, on the books that we or the applicable trustee or warrant agent maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in warrants registered in street name or in warrants issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this section, we mean all purchasers of warrants, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those warrants. Owners of beneficial interests in the warrants should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership And Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

Warrants May Be Debt Warrants or Universal Warrants

 

We may issue warrants that are debt warrants or universal warrants. We may offer warrants separately or together with our debt securities. We may also offer warrants together with other warrants, purchase contracts and debt securities in the form of units, as summarized under “Description of Units AIGPF May Offer.”

 

We will issue the warrants under either a warrant indenture or a warrant agreement. The warrant indenture, the warrant agreement and their associated documents contain the full legal text of the matters described in this section. The warrant indenture and the warrant agreement and the warrants issued thereunder are governed by New York law.

 

Warrant Indenture

 

The warrants may be governed by a document called an indenture. The warrant indenture is a contract among us, as Issuer and AIG, as Guarantor, and The Bank of New York, which will initially act as trustee. See “Description of Debt Securities AIGPF May Offer — Our Relationship with the Trustee” above for more information about the trustee.

 

Reference to the warrant indenture or the trustee, with respect to any warrants, means the indenture under which those warrants are issued and the trustee under that indenture.

 

The trustee has two main roles:

 

1. The trustee can enforce the rights of holders against us if we default on our obligations under the terms of the warrant indenture or the warrants. There are some limitations on the extent to which the trustee acts on behalf of holders, described below under “— Events of Default — Remedies If an Event of Default Occurs.”

 

2. The trustee performs administrative duties for us, such as sending payments to holders and notices, and transferring a holder’s warrants to a new buyer if a holder sells.

 

Warrant Agreement

 

A warrant agreement is a contract between us and a bank, trust company or other financial institution, as warrant agent. References to a warrant agreement or warrant agent, with respect to any warrants, means the warrant agreement under which those warrants are issued and the warrant agent under that warrant agreement.

 

The warrant agent is our agent and, unlike a trustee, has no obligations to holders of the warrants issued under the warrant agreement. The main role of the warrant agent is to perform administrative duties for us, such as sending payments and notices to holders and transferring a holder’s warrants to a new buyer if a holder sells.

 

General

 

We may issue as many distinct series of warrants as we wish.

 

This section summarizes terms of the warrant indenture and warrant agreements and terms of the warrants that apply generally to the warrants, although the prospectus supplement which describes the terms of the warrants may also describe differences from the material terms summarized here.

Because this section is a summary, it does not describe every aspect of the warrants. This summary is subject to and qualified in its entirety by reference to all the provisions of the warrant indenture and warrant agreement, including definitions of certain terms used in the warrant indenture and warrant agreement. In this summary, we describe the meaning of only some of the more important terms. Whenever we refer to particular sections or defined terms of the warrant indenture or warrant agreement in this prospectus or in the prospectus supplement, such sections or defined terms are incorporated by reference here or in the prospectus supplement. You must look to the warrant indenture or warrant agreement for the most complete description of what we describe in summary form in this prospectus.

 

This summary also is subject to and qualified by reference to the description of the particular terms of your warrants described in the prospectus supplement. As you read this section, please remember that the specific terms of your warrant as described in your prospectus supplement will supplement and, if applicable, may modify or replace the general terms described in this section. If there are differences between your prospectus supplement and this prospectus, your prospectus supplement will control. Thus, the statements we make in this section may not apply to your warrant.

 

When we refer to a series of warrants, we mean all warrants issued as part of the same series under the applicable warrant indenture or warrant agreement. When we refer to your prospectus supplement, we mean the prospectus supplement describing the specific terms of the warrant you purchase. The terms used in your prospectus supplement will have the meanings described in this prospectus, unless otherwise specified.

 

In addition, the specific financial, legal and other specific terms of your warrant will be described in the prospectus supplement relating to the warrants. The prospectus supplement relating to the warrants may contain, where applicable, the following information about your warrants:

 

 

If we issue warrants as part of a unit, your prospectus supplement will specify whether the warrants will be separable from the other securities in the unit before the warrants’ expiration date.

 

Until a warrant is properly exercised, no holder of a warrant will have any rights of a holder of the warrant property deliverable under the warrant.

 

An investment in a warrant may involve special risks, including risks associated with indexed securities and currency-related risks if the warrant or the warrant property is linked to an index or is payable in or otherwise linked

to a non-U.S. dollar currency. We describe some of these risks below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and “Risk Factors— Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.”

 

Debt Warrants

 

We may issue warrants for the purchase of our debt securities on terms to be determined at the time of sale. We refer to this type of warrant as a “debt warrant.”

 

If you purchase debt warrants, your prospectus supplement may contain, where applicable, the following additional information about your debt warrants:

 

 

Universal Warrants

 

We may also issue warrants, on terms to be determined at the time of sale, for the purchase or sale of, or whose cash value is determined by reference to the performance, level or value of, one or more of the following:

 

 

We refer to this type of warrant as a “universal warrant.” We refer to each property described above as a “warrant property.”

 

We may satisfy our obligations, if any, and the holder of a universal warrant may satisfy its obligations, if any, with respect to any universal warrants by delivering:

 

 

Your prospectus supplement will describe what we may deliver to satisfy our obligations, if any, and what the holder of a universal warrant may deliver to satisfy its obligations, if any, with respect to any universal warrants.

 

If you purchase universal warrants, your prospectus supplement may contain, where applicable, the following additional information about your universal warrants:

 

 

 

Market-Making Transactions

 

Subsidiaries of AIG may resell warrants in market-making transactions after their initial issuance. We discuss these transactions below under “Plan of Distribution — Market-Making Resales by Subsidiaries of AIG.” We may also purchase, in our discretion, warrants to be held, resold or cancelled.

 

General Provisions of the Warrant Indenture

 

We may issue as many distinct series of warrants under the warrant indenture as we wish, in such amounts as we wish. The provisions of the warrant indenture allow us not only to issue warrants with terms different from those of warrants previously issued under the warrant indenture, but also to “reopen” a previous issue of a series of warrants and issue additional warrants of that series. We may issue warrants in amounts that exceed the total amount specified on the cover of your prospectus supplement at any time without your consent and without notifying you.

 

The warrant indenture and the warrants do not limit our ability to incur other contractual obligations or indebtedness or to issue other securities. Also, the terms of the warrants do not impose financial or similar restrictions on us.

 

Warrants will not be secured by any property or our assets or the assets of AIG or its subsidiaries. Thus, by owning a warrant issued under the warrant indenture, you hold one of our unsecured obligations.

 

The warrants issued under the warrant indenture will be our contractual obligations and will rank equally with all of our other unsecured contractual obligations and unsecured and unsubordinated debt. The warrant indenture does not limit our ability to incur additional contractual obligations or debt.

 

Overview of Remainder of this Description

 

The remainder of this description summarizes:

 

 

Additional Mechanics

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer of Warrants

 

Unless we specify otherwise in your prospectus supplement, we will issue each warrant in registered global — i.e., book-entry — form only. Warrants in book-entry form will be represented by a global security registered in the name of a depositary, which will be the holder of all the warrants represented by the global security. Those who own beneficial interests in a global warrant will do so through participants in the depositary’s system, and the rights of

these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry securities below under “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

If a warrant is issued as a registered global warrant, only the depositary — e.g., DTC, Euroclear or Clearstream — will be entitled to transfer and exchange the warrant as described in this subsection, since the depositary will be the sole holder of the warrant.

 

If any warrants cease to be issued in registered global form, they will be issued:

 

 

Holders may exchange their warrants for certificates representing a smaller or larger number of warrants, as long as the total number of warrants is not changed.

 

Holders may exchange or transfer their warrants at the office of the trustee. They may also replace lost, stolen, destroyed or mutilated warrants at that office. We have appointed the trustee to act as our agent for registering warrants in the names of holders and transferring and replacing warrants. We may appoint another entity to perform these functions or perform them ourselves.

 

Holders will not be required to pay a service charge to transfer or exchange their warrants, but they may be required to pay for any tax or other governmental charge associated with the transfer or exchange. The transfer or exchange, and any replacement, will be made only if our transfer agent is satisfied with the holder’s proof of legal ownership. The transfer agent may require an indemnity before replacing any warrants.

 

If we have the right to redeem, accelerate or settle any warrants before their expiration, and we exercise our right as to less than all those warrants, we may block the transfer or exchange of those warrants during the period beginning 15 days before the day we mail the notice of exercise and ending on the day of that mailing or during any other period specified in the prospectus supplement, in order to freeze the list of holders to prepare the mailing. We may also refuse to register transfers of or to exchange any warrant selected for early settlement, except that we will continue to permit transfers and exchanges of the unsettled portion of any warrant being partially settled.

 

If we have designated additional transfer agents for your warrant, they will be named in your prospectus supplement. We may appoint additional transfer agents or cancel the appointment of any particular transfer agent. We may also approve a change in the office through which any transfer agent acts.

 

The rules for exchange described above apply to exchange of warrants for other warrants of the same series and kind. If a warrant is exercisable for a different kind of security, such as one that we have not issued, or for other property, the rules governing that type of exercise will be described in your prospectus supplement.

 

Expiration Date and Payment or Settlement Date

 

The term “expiration date” with respect to any warrant means the date on which the right to exercise the warrant expires. The term “payment or settlement date” with respect to any warrant means the date when any money or warrant property with respect to that warrant becomes payable or deliverable upon exercise or redemption of that warrant in accordance with its terms.

 

Currency of Warrants

 

Amounts that become due and payable on your warrant may be payable in a currency, composite currency, basket of currencies or currency unit or units specified in your prospectus supplement. We refer to this currency, composite currency, basket of currencies or currency unit or units as a “specified currency.” The specified currency for your warrant will be U.S. dollars, unless your prospectus supplement states otherwise. You will have to pay for your warrant by delivering the requisite amount of the specified currency to a firm that we name in your prospectus supplement, unless other arrangements have been made between you and us or you and that firm. We will make payments on your warrants in the specified currency, except as described in your prospectus supplement. See “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities” below for more information about risks of investing in warrants of this kind.

Redemption

 

We will not be entitled to redeem your warrant before its expiration date unless your prospectus supplement specifies a redemption commencement date.

 

If your prospectus supplement specifies a redemption commencement date, it will also specify one or more redemption prices. It may also specify one or more redemption periods during which the redemption prices relating to a redemption of warrants during those periods will apply.

 

If your prospectus supplement specifies a redemption commencement date, your warrant will be redeemable at our option at any time on or after that date or at a specified time or times. If we redeem your warrant, we will do so at the specified redemption price. If different prices are specified for different redemption periods, the price we pay will be the price that applies to the redemption period during which your warrant is redeemed.

 

If we exercise an option to redeem any warrant, we will give the holder written notice of the redemption price of the warrant to be redeemed, not less than 30 days nor more than 60 days before the applicable redemption date or within any other period before the applicable redemption date specified in your prospectus supplement. We will give the notice in the manner described in your prospectus supplement.

 

Special Situations

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

We and the Guarantor are generally permitted to merge or consolidate with another corporation or firm. We and the Guarantor are also permitted to sell our assets substantially as an entirety to another firm, or to buy or lease substantially all of the assets of another firm. With regard to any warrant, however, we may not take any of these actions unless all the following conditions are met:

 

 

If the conditions described above are satisfied with respect to any warrant, we and the Guarantor will not need to obtain the approval of the holder of that warrant in order to merge or consolidate or to sell our assets. Also, these conditions will apply only if we or the Guarantor wish to merge or consolidate with another entity or sell our assets substantially as an entirety to another entity. We and the Guarantor will not need to satisfy these conditions if we enter into other types of transactions, including any transaction in which we acquire the stock or assets of another entity, any transaction that involves a change of control but in which we do not merge or consolidate and any transaction in which we sell less than substantially all our assets. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in AIG’s credit rating, may reduce our or AIG’s operating results or may impair our or AIG’s financial condition. Holders of our warrants, however, will have no approval right with respect to any transaction of this type.

 

Modification and Waiver of the Warrants

 

There are three types of changes we can make to the warrant indenture and the warrants issued under that warrant indenture.

 

Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders.  First, there are changes that cannot be made to the warrant indenture or the warrants issued under that warrant indenture without the approval of each holder of a warrant

affected by the change. Affected warrants may be all or less than all of the warrants issued under that warrant indenture or all or less than all of the warrants of a series. Here is a list of those types of changes:

 

 

Changes Requiring a Majority Vote.  The second type of change to the warrant indenture and the warrants is the kind that requires a vote in favor by holders of warrants owning not less than a majority of the amount of the particular series affected or, if so provided and to the extent permitted by the Trust Indenture Act, of particular warrants affected thereby. If the change affects the warrants of more than one series issued under the warrant indenture, it must be approved by the holders of a majority in number of all series affected by the change, with the warrants of all the affected series voting together as one class for this purpose.

 

Most changes fall into this category, except for clarifying changes and certain other changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect holders of the warrants. However, we cannot obtain a waiver of a payment default or any other aspect of the warrant indenture or the warrants listed in the first category described above under “— Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders” unless we obtain the individual consent of each holder to the waiver.

 

Changes Not Requiring Approval.  The third type of change to the warrant indenture and the warrants does not require any approval by holders of the warrants. These changes are limited to clarifications and changes that would not adversely affect in any material respect the holders of the warrants. Nor do we need any approval to make changes that affect only warrants to be issued under the warrant indenture after the changes take effect.

 

We may also make changes or obtain waivers that do not adversely affect a particular warrant, even if they affect other warrants. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of that warrant; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected warrants.

 

Further Details Concerning Voting.  We will generally be entitled to set any day as a record date for the purpose of determining the holders that are entitled to take action under the warrant indenture. In certain limited circumstances, only the trustee will be entitled to set a record date for action by holders. If we or the trustee set a record date for an approval or other action to be taken by holders, that vote or action may be taken only by persons or

entities who are holders on the record date and must be taken during the period that we specify for this purpose, or that the trustee specifies if it sets the record date. We or the trustee, as applicable, may shorten or lengthen this period from time to time. In addition, record dates for any global warrant may be set in accordance with procedures established by the depositary from time to time. Accordingly, record dates for global warrants may differ from those for other warrants.

 

 

 

 

Events of Default

 

You will have special rights if an event of default with respect to your warrant occurs and is continuing, as described in this subsection.

 

What is an Event of Default?  Unless your prospectus supplement says otherwise, when we refer to an event of default with respect to any warrant, we mean that, upon satisfaction by the holder of the warrant of all conditions precedent to our relevant obligation or covenant to be satisfied by the holder, any of the following occurs:

 

 

If we do not pay any money or deliver any warrant property when due with respect to a particular warrant of a series, as described in the first bullet point above, that failure to make a payment or delivery will not constitute an event of default with respect to any other warrant of the same series or any other series.

 

Remedies If an Event of Default Occurs.  If an event of default occurs, the trustee will have special duties. In that situation, the trustee will be obligated to use those of its rights and powers under the warrant indenture, and to use the same degree of care and skill in doing so, that a prudent person would use in that situation in conducting his or her own affairs.

 

Except in cases of default, where the trustee has special duties, the trustee is not required to take any action under the warrant indenture at the request of any holders unless the holders offer the trustee reasonable protection from expenses and liability called an indemnity. If indemnity reasonably satisfactory to the trustee is provided, the holders of a majority in number of all warrants of the relevant series may direct the time, method and place of conducting any lawsuit or other formal legal action seeking any remedy available to the trustee with respect to that series. These majority holders may also direct the trustee in performing any other action under the warrant indenture with respect to the warrants of that series.

 

Before you bypass the trustee and bring your own lawsuit or other formal legal action or take other steps to enforce your rights or protect your interests relating to any warrant, all of the following must occur:

 

 

 

However, you are entitled at any time to bring a lawsuit for the payment of any money or delivery of any warrant property due on your warrant on or after its payment or settlement date.

 

 

 

 

We will give to the trustee every year a written statement of certain of our officers certifying that to their knowledge we are in compliance with the warrant indenture and the warrants issued under it, or else specifying any default.

 

General Provisions of Warrant Agreements

 

We may issue debt warrants and universal warrants in one or more series under one or more warrant agreements, each to be entered into among us as Issuer, AIG, as Guarantor, and a bank, trust company or other financial institution as warrant agent. We may add, replace or terminate warrant agents from time to time. We may also choose to act as our own warrant agent or may choose a subsidiary of AIG to do so. We will describe the warrant agreement under which we issue any warrants in your prospectus supplement. Each warrant agreement and any warrants issued under the warrant agreements will be governed by New York law. We will file that agreement with the SEC, either as an exhibit to an amendment to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part or as an exhibit to a current report of AIG on Form 8-K. See “Where You Can Find More Information” below for information on how to obtain a copy of a warrant agreement when it is filed.

 

We may also issue warrants under the warrant indenture. For these warrants, the applicable provisions of the warrant indenture described above would apply instead of the provisions described in this section.

 

Warrant Agreement Will Not Be Qualified under Trust Indenture Act

 

No warrant agreement will be qualified as an indenture, and no warrant agent will be required to qualify as a trustee, under the Trust Indenture Act. Therefore, holders of warrants issued under a warrant agreement will not have the protection of the Trust Indenture Act with respect to their warrants.

 

Enforcement of Rights

 

The warrant agent under a warrant agreement will act solely as our agent in connection with the warrants issued under that agreement. The warrant agent will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust for or with any holders of those warrants. Any holder of warrants may, without the consent of any other person, enforce by appropriate legal action, on its own behalf, its right to exercise those warrants in accordance with their terms. Until the warrant is properly exercised, no holder of any warrant will be entitled to any rights of a holder of the warrant property purchasable upon exercise of the warrant.

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer

 

Unless we specify otherwise in your prospectus supplement, we will issue each warrant in global — i.e., book-entry — form only. Warrants in book-entry form will be represented by a global security registered in the name of a depositary, which will be the holder of all the warrants represented by the global security. Those who own beneficial interests in a global warrant will do so through participants in the depositary’s system, and the rights of

these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry securities below under “Legal Ownership And Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

In addition, we will issue each warrant in registered form, unless we say otherwise in your prospectus supplement. Bearer warrants would be subject to special provisions, as we describe below under “Considerations Relating to Securities Issued in Bearer Form.”

 

If any warrants are issued in non-global form, the terms described below will apply to them:

 

 

Only the depositary will be entitled to transfer or exchange a warrant in global form, because it will be the sole holder of the warrant.

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

The warrant agreements and any warrants issued under the warrant agreements will not restrict our or AIG’s ability to merge or consolidate with, or sell our or AIG’s assets to, another corporation or other entity or to engage in any other transactions. If at any time we or AIG merges or consolidates with, or sells substantially all of our or AIG’s assets to, another corporation or other entity, the successor entity will succeed to and assume our obligations under the warrants and warrant agreements or AIG’s obligations under the guarantees, as applicable. We will then be relieved of any further obligation under the warrants and warrant agreements, and AIG would be releived of any further obligations under the guarantees, as applicable. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in AIG’s credit rating, may reduce our or AIG’s operating results or may impair our or AIG’s financial condition. Holders of our warrants, however, will have no right to vote with respect to any transaction of this type.

 

No Events of Default

 

The warrant agreements and any warrants issued under the warrant agreements also will not provide for any specific events of default.

 

Modification of the Warrant Agreement

 

There are three types of amendments that we and the applicable warrant agent may make to any warrant agreement or warrants issued under that warrant agreement:

 

Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders.  First, we may not amend any particular warrant or a warrant agreement with respect to any particular warrant unless we obtain the consent of the holder of that warrant, if the amendment would:

 

 

 

Changes Requiring a Majority Vote.  Second, any other change to a particular warrant agreement and the warrants issued under that agreement would require the following approval:

 

 

Changes Not Requiring Approval.  Third, we and the applicable warrant agent may amend any warrant or warrant agreement without the consent of any holder:

 

 

We do not need any approval to make changes that affect only warrants to be issued after the changes take effect. We may also make changes that do not adversely affect a particular warrant in any material respect, even if they adversely affect other warrants in a material respect. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of the unaffected warrant; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected warrants.

 

Payments and Notices

 

We will describe the plan we will use to make payments and give notices with respect to our warrants issued under the warrant indenture or warrant agreements in a separate supplement to this prospectus.

 

Calculation Agent

 

Calculations relating to warrants will be made by the calculation agent, an institution that we appoint as our agent for this purpose. That institution may be a subsidiary of AIG. The prospectus supplement for a particular warrant will name the institution that we have appointed to act as the calculation agent for that warrant as of its original issue date. We may appoint a different institution to serve as calculation agent from time to time after the original issue date of the warrant without your consent and without notifying you of the change.

 

The calculation agent’s determination of any amount of money payable or warrant property deliverable with respect to a warrant will be final and binding in the absence of manifest error.

 

References to “AIGPF”, “us”, “we” or “our” in this section mean AIG Program Funding, Inc., as Issuer. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own purchase contracts registered in their own names, on the books that we or our agent maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in purchase contracts registered in street name or in purchase contracts issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this section, we mean those who invest in the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those securities. Owners of beneficial interests in the purchase contracts should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership And Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

Our payment obligations under the purchase contracts will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by American International Group, Inc., as discussed earlier under “Description of AIG Guarantees.”

 

General

 

We may issue purchase contracts in such amounts and in as many distinct series as we wish. In addition, we may issue a purchase contract separately or as part of a unit, as described below under “Description of Units AIGPF May Offer.”

 

Because this section is a summary, it does not describe every aspect of the purchase contracts. In this summary, we describe the meaning of only some of the more important terms.

 

As you read this section, please remember that the specific terms of your purchase contract as described in your prospectus supplement will supplement and, if applicable, may modify or replace the general terms described in this section. If there are differences between your prospectus supplement and this prospectus, your prospectus supplement will control. Thus, the statements we make in this section may not apply to your purchase contract.

 

When we refer to a series of purchase contracts, we mean all the purchase contracts issued as part of the same series under the applicable governing instrument. The purchase contracts and any governing documents will be governed by New York law. When we refer to your prospectus supplement, we mean the prospectus supplement describing the specific terms of the purchase contract you purchase. The terms used in your prospectus supplement will have the meanings described in this prospectus, unless otherwise specified.

 

Prepaid Purchase Contracts; Applicability of Debt Indenture

 

Some purchase contracts may require the holders to satisfy their obligations under the contracts at the time the contracts are issued. We refer to those contracts as “prepaid purchase contracts.” Our obligation to settle a prepaid purchase contract on the relevant settlement date will be subject to the holder’s delivery of one of our debt securities, which are described above under “Description of Debt Securities AIGPF May Offer.” Prepaid purchase contracts will be issued under a debt indenture, and the provisions of the applicable indenture will govern those contracts.

 

Non-Prepaid Purchase Contracts; No Trust Indenture Act Protection

 

Some purchase contracts do not require the holders to satisfy their obligations under the contracts until settlement. We refer to those contracts as “non-prepaid purchase contracts.” The holder of a non-prepaid purchase contract may remain obligated to perform under the contract for a substantial period of time.

 

Non-prepaid purchase contracts will be issued under a unit agreement, if they are issued in units, or under some other document, if they are not. For example, we may issue non-prepaid purchase contracts under which the holder has multiple obligations to purchase or sell, some of which are prepaid and some of which are not, under one of our indentures. We describe unit agreements generally under “Description of Units AIGPF May Offer” below. We will describe the particular governing document that applies to your non-prepaid purchase contracts in your prospectus supplement.

 

Non-prepaid purchase contracts will not be debt securities and will not be issued under an indenture, unless we say otherwise in your prospectus supplement. Consequently, no governing documents for non-prepaid purchase contracts will be qualified as indentures, and no third party will be required to qualify as a trustee with regard to

those contracts, under the Trust Indenture Act. Holders of non-prepaid purchase contracts will not have the protection of the Trust Indenture Act with respect to those contracts.

 

Principal Purchase Contract Terms

 

We may issue purchase contracts for the purchase or sale of, or whose cash value is determined by reference or linked to the performance, level or value of, one or more of the following:

 

 

We refer to each property described above as a “purchase contract property.” Each purchase contract will obligate:

 

 

Some purchase contracts may include multiple obligations to purchase or sell different purchase contract properties, and both we and the holder may be sellers or buyers under the same purchase contract. Until a purchase contract is properly exercised, no holder of a purchase contract will have any rights of a holder of the purchase contract property purchasable under the contract.

 

An investment in purchase contracts may involve special risks, including risks associated with indexed securities and currency-related risks if the purchase contract or purchase contract property is linked to an index or is payable in or otherwise linked to a non-U.S. dollar currency. We describe some of these risks below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.”

 

Your prospectus supplement may contain, where applicable, the following information about your purchase contract:

 

 

If we issue a purchase contract as part of a unit, your prospectus supplement will state whether the contract will be separable from the other securities in the unit before the contract settlement date.

Market-Making Transactions

 

One or more of the subsidiaries of AIG may purchase and resell purchase contracts after their initial issuance in market-making transactions. We describe these transactions below under “Plan Of Distribution — Market-Making Resales by Subsidiaries of AIG.” We may also purchase, in our discretion, purchase contracts to be held, resold or canceled.

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer

 

Unless we specify otherwise in your prospectus supplement, we will issue each purchase contract in global — i.e., book-entry — form only. Purchase contracts in book-entry form will be represented by a global security registered in the name of a depositary, which will be the holder of all the purchase contracts represented by the global security. Those who own beneficial interests in a purchase contract will do so through participants in the depositary’s system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry securities below under “Legal Ownership And Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

In addition, we will issue each purchase contract in registered form, unless we say otherwise in your prospectus supplement.

 

If any purchase contracts are issued in non-global form, the following will apply to them:

 

 

Only the depositary will be entitled to transfer or exchange a purchase contract in global form, because it will be the sole holder of the purchase contract.

 

Additional Terms of Non-Prepaid Purchase Contracts

 

In addition to the general terms described above, a non-prepaid purchase contract may include the following additional terms described below.

 

Pledge by Holders to Secure Performance

 

If we specify in your prospectus supplement, the holder’s obligations under the purchase contract and governing document will be secured by collateral. In that case, the holder, acting through the unit agent as its attorney-in-fact, if applicable, will pledge the items described below to a collateral agent named in the prospectus supplement, which will hold them, for our benefit, as collateral to secure the holder’s obligations. We refer to this as

the “pledge” and all the items described below as the “pledged items.” The pledge will create in our favor a security interest in the holder’s entire interest in and to:

 

 

The collateral agent will forward all payments from the pledged items to us, unless the payments have been released from the pledge in accordance with the purchase contract and the governing document. We will use the payments from the pledged items to satisfy the holder’s obligations under the purchase contract.

 

Settlement of Purchase Contracts that are Part of Units

 

The following will apply to a non-prepaid purchase contract that is issued together with any of our debt securities as part of a unit. If the holder fails to satisfy its obligations under the purchase contract, the unit agent may apply the principal payments on the debt securities to satisfy those obligations as provided in the governing document. If the holder is permitted to settle its obligations by cash payment, the holder may be permitted to do so by delivering the debt securities in the unit to the unit agent as provided in the governing document.

 

 

 

 

Failure of Holder to Perform Obligations under a Non-Prepaid Purchase Contract

 

If the holder fails to settle its obligations under a non-prepaid purchase contract as required, the holder will not receive the purchase contract property or other consideration to be delivered at settlement. Holders that fail to make timely settlement may also be obligated to pay interest or other amounts.

 

Assumption of Obligations by Transferee

 

When the holder of a non-prepaid purchase contract transfers the purchase contract to a new holder, the new holder will assume the obligations of the prior holder with respect to the purchase contract, and the prior holder will be released from those obligations. Under the non-prepaid purchase contract, we will consent to the transfer of the purchase contract, to the assumption of those obligations by the new holder and to the release of the prior holder, if the transfer is made in accordance with the provisions of the purchase contract.

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

Purchase contracts that are not prepaid will not restrict our or the Guarantor’s ability to merge or consolidate with, or sell our assets to, another corporation or firm or to engage in any other transactions. If at any time we or the Guarantor merges or consolidates with, or sells substantially all of our or the Guarantor’s assets to, another corporation or firm, the successor corporation or firm will succeed to and assume our obligations under these purchase contracts. We or the Guarantor will then be relieved of any further obligation under these purchase contracts or the Guarantor’s obligations under the guarantees, as applicable. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in AIG’s credit rating, may reduce our or AIG’s operating results or may impair our or AIG’s financial condition. Holders of our purchase contracts, however, will have no right to vote with respect to any transaction of this type.

No Events of Default

 

Purchase contracts that are not prepaid will not provide for any specific events of default.

 

Payments and Notices

 

We will describe the plan we will use to make payments and give notices with respect to purchase contracts in a separate supplement to this prospectus.

 

Calculation Agent

 

Calculations relating to purchase contracts will be made by the calculation agent, an institution that we appoint as our agent for this purpose. That institution may be a subsidiary of AIG. The prospectus supplement for a particular purchase contract will name the institution that we have appointed to act as the calculation agent for that purchase contract as of its original issue date. We may appoint a different institution to serve as calculation agent from time to time after the original issue date of the purchase contract without your consent and without notifying you of the change.

 

The calculation agent’s determination of any amount of money payable of purchase contract property deliverable with respect to a purchase contract will be final and binding in the absence of manifest error.

 

References to “AIGPF”, “us”, “we” or “our” in this section means AIG Program Funding, Inc., as Issuer. Also, in this section, references to “holders” mean those who own units registered in their own names, on the books that we or our agent maintain for this purpose, and not those who own beneficial interests in units registered in street name or in units issued in book-entry form through one or more depositaries. When we refer to “you” in this section, we mean those who invest in the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or only indirect owners of those securities. Owners of beneficial interests in the units should read the section below entitled “Legal Ownership and Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

Our payment obligations under the units will be fully and unconditionally guaranteed by American International Group, Inc., as discussed earlier under “Description of AIG Guarantees.”

 

General

 

We may issue units comprised of any combination of our debt securities, warrants and purchase contracts. Each unit will be issued so that the holder of the unit is also the holder of each security included in the unit. Thus, the holder of a unit will have the rights and obligations of a holder of each included security. The unit agreement under which a unit is issued may provide that the securities included in the unit may not be held or transferred separately, at any time or at any time before a specified date.

 

We may issue units in such amounts and in as many distinct series as we wish. This section summarizes terms of the units that apply generally to all series. We describe most of the financial and other specific terms of your series in the prospectus supplement accompanying this prospectus. Those terms may vary from the terms described here.

 

As you read this section, please remember that the specific terms of your unit as described in your prospectus supplement will supplement and, if applicable, may modify or replace the general terms described in this section. If there are differences between your prospectus supplement and this prospectus, your prospectus supplement will control. Thus, the statements we make in this section may not apply to your unit.

 

When we refer to a series of units, we mean all units issued as part of the same series under the applicable unit agreement. We will identify the series of which your units are a part in your prospectus supplement. When we refer to your prospectus supplement, we mean the prospectus supplement describing the specific terms of the units you purchase. The terms used in your prospectus supplement will have the meanings described in this prospectus, unless otherwise specified.

 

The applicable prospectus supplement may describe:

 

 

The applicable provisions described in this section, as well as those described under “Description of Debt Securities AIGPF May Offer,” “Description of Warrants AIGPF May Offer” and “Description of Purchase Contracts AIGPF May Offer”, will apply to each unit and to any debt security, warrant or purchase contract included in each unit, respectively.

 

Unit Agreements Will Not Be Qualified under Trust Indenture Act

 

No unit agreement will be qualified as an indenture, and no unit agent will be required to qualify as a trustee, under the Trust Indenture Act. Therefore, holders of units issued under unit agreements will not have the protections of the Trust Indenture Act with respect to their units.

 

An investment in units may involve special risks, including risks associated with indexed securities and currency-related risks if the securities comprising the units are linked to an index or are payable in or otherwise

linked to a non-U.S. dollar currency. We will describe some of these risks below under “Risk Factors — Indexed Securities” and under “Risk Factors — Non-U.S. Dollar Securities.”

 

Market-Making Transactions

 

One or more of AIG’s subsidiaries may resell units after their initial issuance in market-making transactions. We discuss these transactions below under “Plan of Distribution — Market-Making Resales by Subsidiaries of AIG.”

 

Unit Agreements: Prepaid, Non-Prepaid and Other

 

We will issue the units under one or more unit agreements to be entered into among us, as Issuer, AIG, as Guarantor and a bank or other financial institution, as unit agent. We may add, replace or terminate unit agents from time to time. We may also choose to act as our own unit agent or may appoint a subsidiary of AIG to do so. We will identify the unit agreement under which your units will be issued and the unit agent under that agreement in your prospectus supplement.

 

If a unit includes one or more purchase contracts and all those purchase contracts are prepaid purchase contracts, we will issue the unit under a “prepaid unit agreement.” Prepaid unit agreements will reflect the fact that the holders of the related units have no further obligations under the purchase contracts included in their units. If a unit includes one or more non-prepaid purchase contracts, we will issue the unit under a “non-prepaid unit agreement.” Non-prepaid unit agreements will reflect the fact that the holders have payment or other obligations under one or more of the purchase contracts comprising their units. We may also issue units under other kinds of unit agreements, which we will describe in the applicable prospectus supplement. In some cases, we may issue units under one of our indentures.

 

A unit agreement may also serve as the governing document for a security included in a unit. For example, a non-prepaid purchase contract that is part of a unit may be issued under and governed by the relevant unit agreement.

 

In this prospectus, we refer to prepaid unit agreements, non-prepaid unit agreements and other unit agreements, generally, as “unit agreements.” The unit agreements and the units will be governed by New York law. The unit agreement under which we issue your units will be filed, either as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus is a part or as an exhibit to a current report of AIG on Form 8-K. See “Where You Can Find More Information” below for information on how to obtain a copy of a unit agreement when it is filed.

 

Principal Unit Agreement Terms

 

The following provisions will generally apply to all unit agreements unless otherwise stated in the applicable prospectus supplement.

 

Enforcement of Rights

 

The unit agent under a unit agreement will act solely as our agent in connection with the units issued under that agreement. The unit agent will not assume any obligation or relationship of agency or trust for or with any holders of those units or of the securities comprising those units. The unit agent will not be obligated to take any action on behalf of those holders to enforce or protect their rights under the units or the included securities.

 

Except as described in the next paragraph, a holder of a unit may, without the consent of the unit agent or any other holder, enforce its rights as holder under any security included in the unit, in accordance with the terms of that security and the indenture, warrant agreement or purchase contract under which that security is issued. Those terms are described elsewhere in this prospectus under the sections relating to debt securities, warrants and purchase contracts.

 

Notwithstanding the foregoing, a unit agreement may limit or otherwise affect the ability of a holder of units issued under that agreement to enforce its rights, including any right to bring a legal action, with respect to those units or any securities, other than debt securities, prepaid purchase contracts or warrants issued under an indenture

qualified under the Trust Indenture Act, that are included in those units. Limitations of this kind will be described in your prospectus supplement.

 

Form, Exchange and Transfer

 

Unless otherwise stated in your prospectus supplement, we will issue each unit in global — i.e., book-entry — form only. Units in book-entry form will be represented by a global security registered in the name of a depositary, which will be the holder of all the units represented by the global security. Those who own beneficial interests in a unit will do so through participants in the depositary’s system, and the rights of these indirect owners will be governed solely by the applicable procedures of the depositary and its participants. We describe book-entry securities below under “Legal Ownership And Book-Entry Issuance.”

 

In addition, we will issue each unit in registered form, unless we say otherwise in the prospectus supplement. Each unit and all securities comprising the unit will be issued in the same form. If we issue any units in registered, non-global form, the following will apply to them:

 

 

Only the depositary will be entitled to transfer or exchange a unit in global form, since it will be the sole holder of the unit.

 

Modification and Waiver of the Units

 

There are three types of changes we can make to the unit agreement and the units issued under that unit agreement:

 

Changes Requiring Approval of All Holders.  First, we may not amend any particular unit or a unit agreement with respect to any particular unit unless we obtain the consent of the holder of that unit, if the amendment would:

 

 

 

Changes Requiring a Majority Vote.  Second, any other change to particular unit agreement and the units issued under that agreement would require the following approval:

 

 

These provisions regarding changes with majority approval apply to changes affecting any securities issued under a unit agreement, as the governing document.

 

Changes Not Requiring Approval.  Third, we and the applicable unit agent may amend any unit or unit agreement without the consent of any holder:

 

 

We do not need any approval to make changes that affect only units to be issued after the changes take effect. We may also make changes that do not adversely affect in any material respect a particular unit, even if they adversely affect in any material respect other units. In those cases, we do not need to obtain the approval of the holder of the unaffected unit; we need only obtain any required approvals from the holders of the affected units.

 

The foregoing applies also to any security issued under a unit agreement, as the governing document.

 

Additional Provisions of a Non-Prepaid Unit Agreement

 

In addition to the provisions described above, a non-prepaid unit agreement will include the provisions described below:

 

Obligations of Unit Holder

 

Each holder of units issued under a non-prepaid unit agreement will:

 

 

The unit agreement for a unit that includes a non-prepaid purchase contract will also include provisions regarding the holder’s pledge of collateral and special settlement provisions. These are described above under “Description of Purchase Contracts AIGPF May Offer” — Additional Terms of Non-Prepaid Purchase Contracts.”

 

Failure of Holder to Perform Obligations

 

If the holder fails to settle its obligations under a non-prepaid purchase contract included in a unit as required, the holder will not receive the purchase contract property or other consideration to be delivered at settlement of the purchase contract. Holders that fail to make timely settlement may also be obligated to pay interest or other amounts.

Assumption of Obligations by Transferee

 

When the holder of a unit issued under a non-prepaid unit agreement transfers the unit to a new holder, the new holder will assume the obligations of the prior holder with respect to each purchase contract included in the unit, and the prior holder will be released from those obligations. Under the non-prepaid unit agreement, we will consent to the transfer of the unit, to the assumption of those obligations by the new holder and to the release of the prior holder, if the transfer is made in accordance with the provisions of that agreement.

 

Mergers and Similar Transactions

 

The unit agreements will not restrict our or the Guarantor’s ability to merge or consolidate with, or sell our assets to, another corporation or firm or to engage in any other transactions. If at any time we or the Guarantor merges or consolidates with, or sells substantially all of our assets to, another corporation or firm, the successor corporation or firm will succeed to and assume our or the Guarantor’s obligations, as the case may be, under the unit agreements. We will then be relieved of any further obligation under the units and the unit agreements. It is possible that this type of transaction may result in a reduction in AIG’s credit rating, may reduce our or AIG’s operating results or may impair our or AIG’s financial condition. Holders of units will have no right to vote with respect to any transaction of this type.

 

No Events of Default

 

The non-prepaid unit agreements will not provide for any specific events of default.

 

Payments and Notices

 

We will describe the plan we will use to make payments and give notices with respect to our units in a separate supplement to this prospectus.

 

References to “us”, “we” or “our” in this section means American International Group, Inc., and/or AIG Program Funding, Inc., as applicable, as Issuers.

 

Indexed Securities

 

We use the term “indexed securities” to mean debt securities, warrants and purchase contracts whose value is linked to an underlying asset or index, as well as units that include a debt security, warrant or purchase contract of this kind.

 

An Investment in Indexed Securities Presents Significant Risks Not Associated with Other Types of Securities

 

An investment in indexed securities presents certain significant risks not associated with other types of securities. If we issue indexed securities, we will describe certain risks associated with any such particular indexed security more fully in the applicable pricing supplement. Indexed securities may present a high level of risk, and you may lose your entire investment if you purchase these types of securities.

 

The treatment of indexed securities for United States federal income tax purposes is often unclear due to the absence of any authority specifically addressing the issues presented by any particular indexed security. Accordingly, you, or your tax adviser, should, in general, be capable of independently evaluating the federal income tax consequences of purchasing an indexed security applicable in your particular circumstances.

 

Investors in Indexed Securities Could Lose Principal or Interest

 

The principal amount of an indexed security payable at maturity, the amount of interest payable on an interest payment date, the cash value or physical settlement value of a physically settled debt security and the cash value or physical settlement value of an indexed warrant or purchase contract, will be determined by reference to one or more of the following:

 

 

The direction and magnitude of the change in the value of the relevant index will determine one or more of the principal amount of an indexed security payable at maturity, the amount of interest payable on an interest payment date, the cash value or physical settlement value of a physically settled debt security and the cash value or physical settlement value of an indexed warrant or purchase contract or all the foregoing. The terms of a particular indexed security may or may not include a guaranteed return of a percentage of the face amount at maturity or a minimum interest rate. An indexed warrant or purchase contract generally will not provide for any guaranteed minimum settlement value. Accordingly, if you invest in an indexed security, you may lose all or a portion of the amount invested in such indexed security and may receive no interest on the security.

 

Market Price of Indexed Securities Influenced by Many Unpredictable Factors

 

Several factors, many of which are beyond our control, will influence the value of indexed securities, including:

 

 

 

These factors will influence the price that you will receive if you sell your indexed securities prior to maturity. For example, you may have to sell your indexed securities at a substantial discount from the issue price if the market price of the reference property is at, below or not sufficiently above the price of the reference property at pricing.

 

You cannot predict the future performance of an index or an indexed security based on its historical performance.

 

The Issuer of Reference Property Could Take Actions That May Adversely Affect an Indexed Security

 

The issuer of a stock or other security that serves as the reference property or as part of the reference property for an indexed security will, unless otherwise provided in the pricing supplement, have no involvement in the offer and sale of the indexed security and no obligations to the holder of the indexed security. The issuer may take actions, such as a merger or sale of assets, without regard to the interests of the holders of our indexed securities. Any of these actions could adversely affect the value of a security indexed to the reference property.

 

The issuer of the reference property is not involved in the offering of the indexed securities in any way and has no obligation to consider your interest as owner of these indexed securities in taking any corporate actions that might affect the value of your securities. None of the money you pay on the indexed security will go to a third-party issuer.

 

An Indexed Security May Be Linked to a Volatile Index, Which Could Hurt Your Investment

 

Certain indices are highly volatile, which means that their value may change significantly, up or down, over a short period of time. The expected principal amount payable at maturity, the amount of interest payable on an interest payment date, the cash value or physical settlement value of a physically settled debt security and the cash value or physical settlement value of an indexed warrant or purchase contract based on a volatile index may vary substantially from time to time. Because the amount payable on an indexed security is generally calculated based on the value of the relevant index on a specified date or over a limited period of time, volatility in the index increases the risk that the return on the indexed securities may be adversely affected by a fluctuation in the level of the relevant index.

 

The volatility of an index may be affected by political or economic events, including governmental actions, or by the activities of participants in the relevant markets. Any of these could adversely affect the value of an indexed security.

 

An Index to Which a Security is Linked Could Be Changed or Become Unavailable

 

Certain indices reference several different currencies, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. The compiler of such an index typically reserves the right to alter the composition of the index and the manner in which the value of the index is calculated. Such an alteration may result in a decrease in the value of or return on an indexed security which is linked to such index.

 

An index may become unavailable due to such factors as war, natural disasters, cessation of publication of the index, or suspension of or disruption in trading in the currency or currencies, commodity or commodities, security or securities or other financial instrument or instruments comprising or underlying such index. If an index becomes unavailable, the determination of the amount payable on an indexed security may be delayed or an alternative method may be used to determine the value of the unavailable index. Alternative methods of valuation are generally intended to produce a value similar to the value resulting from reference to the relevant index. However, it is unlikely that such alternative methods of valuation will produce values identical to those which would be produced

were the relevant index to be used. An alternative method of valuation may result in a decrease in the value of or return on an indexed security.

 

Certain indexed securities are linked to indices which are not commonly utilized or have been recently developed. The lack of a trading history may make it difficult to anticipate the volatility or other risks to which such a security is subject. In addition, there may be less trading in such indices or instruments underlying such indices, which could increase the volatility of such indices and decrease the value of or return on indexed securities relating to them.

 

You Have No Rights With Respect to the Reference Property

 

As an owner of indexed securities, you will not have voting rights or the right to receive dividends or other distributions or any other rights with respect to reference property.

 

We May Engage in Hedging Activities that Could Adversely Affect the Value of an Indexed Security

 

In order to hedge an exposure on a particular indexed security, we may, directly or through subsidiaries of AIG, enter into transactions involving the currencies, commodities, securities, or other financial instruments that underlie the index for that security, or derivative instruments, such as options, on those currencies, commodities, securities, or other financial instruments. Transactions of this kind could affect the value of the indexed security in a manner adverse to the investor.

 

You Have No Right to Any of Our Hedging Profits

 

As discussed in the paragraph just above this one, we may engage in activities to hedge our exposure under an indexed security. We may have profits or losses from these hedging activities. It is possible that we could achieve substantial profits from our hedging transactions while the value of the indexed security may decline. The holders of an indexed security will have no right to any such profit.

 

Information About Indices May Not Be Indicative of Future Performance

 

If we issue an indexed security, we may include historical information about the relevant index in the applicable pricing supplement. Any information about indices that we may provide will be furnished as a matter of information only, and you should not regard the information as indicative of the range of, or trends in, fluctuations in the relevant index that may occur in the future.

 

We May Have Conflicts of Interest Regarding an Indexed Security

 

AIG Financial Securities Corp. and other subsidiaries of AIG may have conflicts of interest with respect to some indexed securities. AIG Financial Securities Corp. and other subsidiaries of AIG may engage in trading, including trading for hedging purposes, for their proprietary accounts or for other accounts under their management, in indexed securities and in the currencies, commodities, securities, or other financial instruments on which the index is based or in other derivative instruments related to the index. These trading activities could adversely affect the value of indexed securities. We and the subsidiaries of AIG may also issue securities or derivative instruments that are linked to the same index as one or more indexed securities. By introducing competing products into the marketplace in this manner, we could adversely affect the value of an indexed security.

 

To the extent that one or more of the subsidiaries of AIG calculates or compiles a particular index or serves as calculation agent with respect to an indexed security, it may have considerable discretion in performing the calculation or compilation. Exercising discretion in this manner could adversely affect the value of or the rate of return on an indexed security based on such index.

Non-U.S. Dollar Securities

 

 

 

Information About Exchange Rates May Not Be Indicative of Future Performance

 

With respect to any security denominated in other than U.S. dollars, the applicable pricing supplement may include a currency supplement on the applicable specified currency. A currency supplement may include historical exchange rates for the specified currency. Information concerning exchange rates is furnished as a matter of information only. You should not regard such information as indicative of the range of or trends in fluctuations in currency exchange rates that may occur in the future.

 

 

 

An Investment in a Non-U.S. Dollar Security Involves Currency-Related Risks

 

If you invest in securities that are denominated in other than U.S. dollars, your investment may be subject to significant risks that are not associated with a similar investment in a security denominated in U.S. dollars. These risks include, for example, the possibility of significant changes in rates of exchange between the U.S. dollar and the various foreign currencies or composite currencies and the possibility of the imposition or modification of foreign exchange controls by either the U.S. or foreign governments. These risks depend on events over which we have no control, such as economic and political events and the supply of and demand for the relevant currencies.

 

Changes in Currency Exchange Rates Can Be Volatile and Unpredictable

 

In recent years, rates of exchange between the U.S. dollar and many other currencies have been highly volatile, and this volatility may be expected to continue and perhaps spread to other currencies in the future. Fluctuations in currency exchange rates could adversely affect an investment in a security with a specified currency other than U.S. dollars. Depreciation of the specified currency against the U.S. dollar could result in a decrease in the U.S. dollar-equivalent value of payments on the security, including the principal payable at maturity or the settlement value payable upon exercise. That in turn could cause the market value of the security to fall. Depreciation of the specified currency against the U.S. dollar could result in a loss to the investor on a U.S. dollar basis.

 

Government Policy Can Adversely Affect Currency Exchange Rates and an Investment in a Non-U.S. Dollar Security

 

Currency exchange rates can either float or be fixed by sovereign governments. From time to time, governments use a variety of techniques, such as intervention by a country’s central bank or imposition of regulatory controls or taxes, to affect the exchange rate of their currencies. Governments may also issue a new currency to replace an existing currency or alter the exchange rate or exchange characteristics by devaluation or revaluation of a currency. Thus, a special risk in purchasing non-U.S. dollar-denominated securities is that their U.S. dollar-equivalent yields or payouts could be significantly and unpredictably affected by governmental actions. Even in the absence of governmental action directly affecting currency exchange rates, political or economic developments in the country issuing the specified currency for a non-dollar security or elsewhere could lead to significant and sudden changes in the exchange rate between the dollar and the specified currency. These changes

could affect the U.S. dollar equivalent value of the security as participants in the global currency markets move to buy or sell the specified currency or U.S. dollars in reaction to those developments.

 

Governments have imposed from time to time and may in the future impose exchange controls or other conditions with respect to the exchange or transfer of a specified currency that could affect exchange rates as well as the availability of a specified currency for a security at its maturity or on any other payment date. In addition, the ability of a holder to move currency freely out of the country in which payments are made, or to convert the currency at a freely determined market rate could be limited by governmental actions.

 

Non-U.S. Dollar Securities Will Permit Us to Make Payments in Dollars if We Are Unable to Obtain the Specified Currency

 

Securities payable in a currency other than U.S. dollars will provide that, if the other currency is not available to us at or about the time when a payment on the securities comes due because of circumstances beyond our control, we will be entitled to make the payment in U.S. dollars. These circumstances could include the imposition of exchange controls or our inability to obtain the currency because of a disruption in the currency markets. If we made payment in U.S. dollars, the exchange rate we would use may be for a date substantially before the payment date. As a result, the amount of dollars an investor would receive on the payment date may not reflect currency market conditions at the time of payment.

 

Payments Due in Other Currencies May Be Made From an Overseas Bank

 

Currently, there are limited facilities in the United States for conversion of U.S. dollars into foreign currencies, and vice versa. Accordingly, payments on securities made in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars are likely to be made from an account with a bank located in the country issuing the specified currency.

 

We Will Not Adjust Non-U.S. Dollar Securities to Compensate for Changes in Currency Exchange Rates

 

Except as described in your prospectus supplement, we will not make any adjustment or change in the terms of a security payable in a currency other than U.S. dollars in the event of any change in exchange rates for that currency, whether in the event of any devaluation, revaluation or imposition of exchange or other regulatory controls or taxes or in the event of other developments affecting that currency, the U.S. dollar or any other currency. Consequently, investors in non-U.S. dollar securities will bear the risk that their investment may be adversely affected by these types of events.

 

In a Lawsuit for Payment on a Non-Dollar Security, an Investor May Bear Currency Exchange Risk

 

The securities we are offering will be governed by New York law. Under New York law, a New York state court rendering a judgment on a security denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars would be required to render the judgment in the specified currency; however, the judgment would be converted into U.S. dollars at the exchange rate prevailing on the date of entry of the judgment. Consequently, in a lawsuit for payment on a security denominated in a currency other than U.S. dollars, investors would bear currency exchange risk until a New York state court judgment is entered, which could be a long time.

 

In courts outside of New York, investors may not be able to obtain a judgment in a specified currency other than U.S. dollars. For example, a judgment for money in an action based on a non-U.S. dollar security in many other U.S. federal or state courts ordinarily would be enforced in the United States only in U.S. dollars. The date used to determine the rate of conversion of the currency in which any particular security is denominated into U.S. dollars will depend upon various factors, including which court renders the judgment.

 

References to “us”, “we” or “our” in this section means American International Group, Inc., and/or AIG Program Funding, Inc., as applicable, as Issuers. In this section, we describe special considerations that will apply to registered securities issued in global — i.e., book-entry — form. First we describe the difference between legal ownership and indirect ownership of registered securities. Then we describe special provisions that apply to global securities.

 

Who is the Legal Owner of a Registered Security?

 

Each debt security, warrant, purchase contract, unit, junior subordinated debenture or share of preferred or common stock in registered form will be represented either by a certificate issued in definitive form to a particular investor or by one or more global securities representing such securities. We refer to those who have securities registered in their own names, on the books that we or the trustee, warrant agent or other agent maintain for this purpose, as the “holders” of those securities. These persons are the legal holders of the securities. We refer to those who, indirectly through others, own beneficial interests in securities that are not registered in their own names as indirect owners of those securities. As we discuss below, indirect owners are not legal holders, and investors in securities issued in book-entry form or in street name will be indirect owners.

 

Book-Entry Owners

 

Unless otherwise noted in your prospectus supplement, we will issue each security in book-entry form only. This means securities will be represented by one or more global securities registered in the name of a financial institution that holds them as depositary on behalf of other financial institutions that participate in the depositary’s book-entry system. These participating institutions, in turn, hold beneficial interests in the securities on behalf of themselves or their customers.

 

Under each indenture, warrant agreement, purchase contract, unit agreement or depositary agreement, only the person in whose name a security is registered is recognized as the holder of that security. Consequently, for securities issued in global form, we will recognize only the depositary as the holder of the securities and we will make all payments on the securities, including deliveries of any property other than cash, to the depositary. The depositary passes along the payments it receives to its participants, which in turn pass the payments along to their customers who are the beneficial owners. The depositary and its participants do so under agreements they have made with one another or with their customers; they are not obligated to do so under the terms of the securities.

 

As a result, investors will not own securities directly. Instead, they will own beneficial interests in a global security, through a bank, broker or other financial institution that participates in the depositary’s book-entry system or holds an interest through a participant. As long as the securities are issued in global form, investors will be indirect owners, and not holders, of the securities.

 

Street Name Owners

 

We may terminate an existing global security or issue securities initially in non-global form. In these cases, investors may choose to hold their securities in their own names or in street name. Securities held by an investor in street name would be registered in the name of a bank, broker or other financial institution that the investor chooses, and the investor would hold only a beneficial interest in those securities through an account he or she maintains at that institution.

 

For securities held in street name, we will recognize only the intermediary banks, brokers and other financial institutions in whose names the securities are registered as the holders of those securities and we will make all payments on those securities, including deliveries of any property other than cash, to them. These institutions pass along the payments they receive to their customers who are the beneficial owners, but only because they agree to do so in their customer agreements or because they are legally required to do so. Investors who hold securities in street name will be indirect owners, not holders, of those securities.

Legal Holders

 

Our obligations, as well as the obligations of the trustee under any indenture and the obligations, if any, of any warrant agents and unit agents and any other third parties employed by us, the trustee or any of those agents, run only to the holders of the securities. We do not have obligations to investors who hold beneficial interests in global securities, in street name or by any other indirect means. This will be the case whether an investor chooses to be an indirect owner of a security or has no choice because we are issuing the securities only in global form.

 

For example, once we make a payment or give a notice to the holder, we have no further responsibility for that payment or notice even if that holder is required, under agreements with depositary participants or customers or by law, to pass it along to the indirect owners but does not do so. Similarly, if we want to obtain the approval of the holders for any purpose — for example, to amend the indenture for a series of debt securities or warrants or the warrant agreement for a series of warrants or to relieve us of the consequences of a default or of our obligation to comply with a particular provision of an indenture — we would seek the approval only from the holders, and not the indirect owners, of the relevant securities. Whether and how the holders contact the indirect owners is up to the holders.

 

When we refer to “you” in this prospectus, we mean all purchasers of the securities being offered by this prospectus, whether they are the holders or indirect owners of those securities. When we refer to “your securities” in this prospectus, we mean the securities in which you will hold a direct or indirect interest.

 

Special Considerations for Indirect Owners

 

If you hold securities through a bank, broker or other financial institution, either in book-entry form or in street name, you should check with your own institution to find out:

 

 

What is a Global Security?

 

Unless otherwise noted in the applicable pricing supplement, we will issue each security in book-entry form only. Each security issued in book-entry form will be represented by a global security that we deposit with and register in the name of one or more financial institutions or clearing systems, or their nominees, which we select. A financial institution or clearing system that we select for any security for this purpose is called the “depositary” for that security. A security will usually have only one depositary but it may have more. Each series of securities will have one or more of the following as the depositaries:

 

 

The depositaries named above may also be participants in one another’s systems. Thus, for example, if DTC is the depositary for a global security, investors may hold beneficial interests in that security through Euroclear or Clearstream, as DTC participants. The depositary or depositaries for your securities will be named in your prospectus supplement; if none is named, the depositary will be DTC.

 

A global security may represent one or any other number of individual securities. Generally, all securities represented by the same global security will have the same terms. We may, however, issue a global security that represents multiple securities of the same kind, such as debt securities, that have different terms and are issued at different times. We call this kind of global security a master global security. Your prospectus supplement will not indicate whether your securities are represented by a master global security.

 

A global security may not be transferred to or registered in the name of anyone other than the depositary or its nominee, unless special termination situations arise. We describe those situations below under “— Holder’s Option to Obtain a Non-Global Security: Special Situations When a Global Security Will Be Terminated.” As a result of these arrangements, the depositary, or its nominee, will be the sole registered owner and holder of all securities represented by a global security, and investors will be permitted to own only indirect interests in a global security. Indirect interests must be held by means of an account with a broker, bank or other financial institution that in turn has an account with the depositary or with another institution that does. Thus, an investor whose security is represented by a global security will not be a holder of the security, but only an indirect owner of an interest in the global security.

 

If the prospectus supplement for a particular security indicates that the security will be issued in global form only, then the security will be represented by a global security at all times unless and until the global security is terminated. We describe the situations in which this can occur below under “— Holder’s Option to Obtain a Non-Global Security: Special Situations When a Global Security Will Be Terminated.” If termination occurs, we may issue the securities through another book-entry clearing system or decide that the securities may no longer be held through any book-entry clearing system.

 

Special Considerations for Global Securities

 

As an indirect owner, an investor’s rights relating to a global security will be governed by the account rules of the depositary and those of the investor’s bank, broker, financial institution or other intermediary through which it holds its interest (e.g., Euroclear or Clearstream, if DTC is the depositary), as well as general laws relating to securities transfers. We do not recognize this type of investor or any intermediary as a holder of securities and instead deal only with the depositary that holds the global security.

 

If securities are issued only in the form of a global security, an investor should be aware of the following:

 

 

 

Holder’s Option to Obtain a Non-Global Security: Special Situations When a Global Security Will Be Terminated

 

If we issue any series of securities in book-entry form but we choose to give the beneficial owners of that series the right to obtain non-global securities, any beneficial owner entitled to obtain non-global securities may do so by following the applicable procedures of the depositary, any transfer agent or registrar for that series and that owner’s bank, broker or other financial institution through which that owner holds its beneficial interest in the securities. If you are entitled to request a non-global certificate and wish to do so, you will need to allow sufficient lead time to enable us or our agent to prepare the requested certificate.

 

In addition, in a few special situations described below, a global security will be terminated and interests in it will be exchanged for certificates in non-global form representing the securities it represented. After that exchange, the choice of whether to hold the securities directly or in street name will be up to the investor. Investors must consult their own banks, brokers or other financial institutions, to find out how to have their interests in a global security transferred on termination to their own names, so that they will be holders. We have described the rights of holders and street name investors above under “— Who is the Legal Owner of a Registered Security?.”

 

The special situations for termination of a global security are as follows:

 

 

If a global security is terminated, only the depositary, and not we, the trustee for any debt securities, the warrant agent for any warrants or the unit agent for any units, is responsible for deciding the names of the institutions in whose names the securities represented by the global security will be registered and, therefore, who will be the holders of those securities.

 

Considerations Relating to DTC

 

DTC has informed us that it is a limited-purpose trust company organized under the New York Banking Law, a “banking organization” within the meaning of the New York Banking Law, a member of the Federal Reserve System, a “clearing corporation” within the meaning of the New York Uniform Commercial Code and a “clearing agency” registered pursuant to the provisions of Section 17A of the Exchange Act. DTC holds securities that DTC participants deposit with DTC. DTC also facilitates the settlement among DTC participants of securities transactions, such as transfers and pledges in deposited securities through electronic computerized book-entry changes in DTC participants’ accounts, thereby eliminating the need for physical movement of certificates. DTC

participants include securities brokers and dealers, banks, trust companies and clearing corporations, and may include other organizations. DTC is owned by a number of its DTC participants and by the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., the American Stock Exchange, LLC and the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. Indirect access to the DTC system also is available to others such as banks, brokers, dealers and trust companies that clear through or maintain a custodial relationship with a participant, either directly or indirectly. The rules applicable to DTC and DTC participants are on file with the SEC.

 

Purchases of securities within the DTC system must be made by or through DTC participants, which will receive a credit for the securities on DTC’s records. Transfers of ownership interests in the securities are to be accomplished by entries made on the books of participants acting on behalf of beneficial owners.

 

Redemption notices will be sent to DTC’s nominee, Cede & Co., as the registered holder of the securities. If less than all of the securities are being redeemed, DTC will determine the amount of the interest of each direct participant to be redeemed in accordance with its then current procedures.

 

In instances in which a vote is required, neither DTC nor Cede & Co. will itself consent or vote with respect to the securities. Under its usual procedures, DTC would mail an omnibus proxy to the relevant trustee as soon as possible after the record date. The omnibus proxy assigns Cede & Co.’s consenting or voting rights to those direct participants to whose accounts such securities are credited on the record date (identified in a listing attached to the omnibus proxy).

 

Distribution payments on the securities will be made by the relevant trustee to DTC. DTC’s usual practice is to credit direct participants’ accounts on the relevant payment date in accordance with their respective holdings shown on DTC’s records unless DTC has reason to believe that it will not receive payments on such payment date. Payments by participants to beneficial owners will be governed by standing instructions and customary practices and will be the responsibility of such participants and not of DTC, the relevant trustee or us, subject to any statutory or regulatory requirements as may be in effect from time to time. Payment of distributions to DTC is the responsibility of the relevant trustee, and disbursements of such payments to the beneficial owners are the responsibility of direct and indirect participants.

 

The information in this section concerning DTC and DTC’s book-entry system has been obtained from sources that we believe to be accurate, but we assume no responsibility for the accuracy thereof. We do not have any responsibility for the performance by DTC or its participants of their respective obligations as described herein or under the rules and procedures governing their respective operations.

 

Considerations Relating to Euroclear and Clearstream