The US government has reduced its holdings in the giant bailed-out insurer American International Group (AIG) to 53 percent after carrying out sale of another tranche of stock.
Before the US Treasury Department announced the sale last week, the US government still held 61 per cent of the company.
The treasury said Wednesday that it took in $5.75 billion in the sale, more than the estimated worth of $4.5 billion when the sale was announced.
At the height of the financial crisis in 2008-09, the Treasury
Department and Federal Reserve held a total of $182 billion in the international insurance giant. The latest sale was expected to reduce the holdings to about $25 billion.
AIG was the world's prime insurer, but speculation in the
over-inflated US housing market brought the firm to the edge of ruin.
The US government rescue was the most expensive during the financial crisis.
The company has rebounded strongly, reporting last week a 27-percent rise in second quarter profits, to $2.33 billion.
During financial meltdown, AIG suffered the worst annual loss ever in
US business history, of $99.3 billion.
