By PALLAVI GOGOI
AP Business Writer
NEW YORK – The government will wind down its largest and most complex rescue from the 2008 financial crisis, a $182 billion package to save insurer AIG, by selling stock over the next two years. The plan could net taxpayers billions in profits.
American International Group Inc. paid its $21 billion outstanding balance to the New York branch of the Federal Reserve on Friday and converted preferred stock owned by the Treasury Department into more than 1.6 billion shares of common stock that can be sold on the open market.
The common stock gives the government a 92 percent ownership stake. The Treasury Department is expected to start selling its shares in March.