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AIG TO PAY $725 MILLION

The American International Group (AIG) has agreed to pay $725 million to three Ohio pension funds to settle six-year-old claims of accounting fraud, stock manipulation and bid-rigging.

MILLER IN, GOLUB OUT

Harvey Golub has resigned from American International Group's board of directors and as chairman citing differences with CEO Robert Benmosche.

Golub was replaced as chairman of the board by Robert S. (Steve) Miller, 68, who was elected to AIG's board in June 2009.

In his resignation letter, Golub said Benmosche had informed the board that he believes "our working relationship as chairman and CEO to be ineffective and unsustainable."

NOVARTIS SETTLES

Novartis AG's U.S. unit has agreed to pay as much as $152.5 million to settle a gender-discrimination class action brought by female workers.

As part of the settlement, Novartis will also spend an additional $22.5 million over three years to improve its personnel policies, the Basel, Switzerland-based drugmaker said.

The settlement, announced in July, follows a May 19 verdict in the case awarding $250 million in punitive damages to a group of 5,600 employees. The settlement, which must be approved by the judge overseeing the case, supersedes the earlier May verdict.

AON BUYS HEWITT

Commercial insurance broker Aon Corp. has agreed to buy the benefits consulting firm Hewitt Associates Inc. for $4.9 billion, a move intended to expand further into the human-resources consulting business and step up competition with rival Marsh & McLennan Cos., parent company of Mercer and Oliver Wyman.

The deal, if approved, is the company's biggest ever and expands its push into human resources consulting worldwide.

Hewitt, based in Lincolnshire, Ill., is one of the world's biggest human resources consulting and outsourcing companies with more than $3 billion in annual revenue.

LIBERTY SUES GOLDMAN

Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. has sued Goldman Sachs Group Inc. of misleading investors in 2007 when it sold Fannie Mae preferred shares while betting against the U.S. mortgage market.

Goldman Sachs misrepresented Fannie Mae's health when it underwrote the offerings, in which the insurer invested $62.5 million, according to court documents.

SUGAR COMPANY PAYS FINE

Imperial Sugar has agreed to pay more than $6 million in fines for safety violations at two of its U.S. plants, including the Georgia refinery where a dust explosion killed 14 workers in 2008.

The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) had sought to fine the company $8.7 million for 221 safety violations at the refinery near Savannah and its plant in Gramercy, La.

The settlement comes nearly two years after regulators sought to penalize the Texas-based company for allowing sugar dust to accumulate despite warnings.

--Compiled by staff from news and wire reports

September 1, 2010

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