Kim Slams MacArthur for Trying to Deregulate Wall Street to Help Former AIG CEO and Donor

MARLTON, NJ – National security official Andy Kim slammed Tom MacArthur today for writing and introducing legislation intended to gut Wall Street regulations and make it easier for securities firms to engage in similar risky behavior that led to the 2008 financial crisis.

According to the New York Times, Congressman Tom MacArthur crafted legislation that would gut Wall Street regulations after his former employer, former A.I.G. CEO Maurice Greenberg, admitted culpability and paid $9 million to settle his securities fraud case last year. Greenberg was held accountable under the Martin Act, a financial securities law that has been enforced since the 1920s. Under MacArthur’s bill, the Martin Act’s power would be significantly undermined.

Greenberg, who founded American International Group (A.I.G.), played a contributing role in the 2008 financial crisis with accounting scandals that misled the public. Greenberg’s $9 million fraud settlement involved transactions that “misstated [AIG’s] underwriting results from 2000 to 2004, during the period that insurance CEO MacArthur was running his company, York, under the AIG umbrella.” In 2005, York was reported to have derived 42% of its revenue, $75.2 million, from specialized group programs handled by AIG.

After his ouster from A.I.G., Greenberg formed Starr Companies, which formed a corporate PAC and donated $10,000 to Congressman MacArthur’s campaign in both 2016 and 2018, the maximum amount allowed by federal law. MacArthur’s opponent, Andy Kim, has refused to accept corporate PAC contributions.

“This is just another example of Congressman MacArthur serving his corporate donors at the expense of his own constituents” Andy Kim said. “I demand Tom MacArthur return the $20,000 he took from Greenberg’s corporate PAC and signs the pledge I took to reject corporate PAC money. In America, our leaders should work for the people who elect them, not the corporate PACs that buy them. Why is Tom MacArthur trying to make it easier for Wall Street to commit dangerous financial crimes? Why is he giving corporations permanent tax breaks by raising taxes and health insurance premiums on middle class NJ families? Follow the money.”