Today AIG, Tomorrow Citi, BofA? Icahn Takes on Too Big to Fail
- Many large banks face same issues of low returns, regulation
- Lenders' market cap, Fed oversight provide activist obstacles
Is AIG Too Big Too Succeed?
This article is for subscribers only.
Carl Icahn is pushing for the breakup of insurance giant American International Group Inc., but America’s biggest banks could be forgiven for thinking he was talking about them, too.
What the gray-bearded activist investor identifies as the symptoms of AIG’s corporate obesity -- below-target returns, discounted valuations and the scarlet letter of the “systemically important” designation that brings what he calls an “onerous regulatory burden” -- can also be slapped on Wall Street financial supermarkets such as Bank of America Corp. and Citigroup Inc.