American International Group Inc (AIG) Slams Bank of America Corp (BAC)

As the date draws near for the May 30 Article 77 hearing on whether or not Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC)‘s $8.5 billion settlement with 22 institutional investors will go forward or back to the starting gate, one thing is becoming very clear: Revived insurance giant American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) isn’t about to let Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) off the hook for a slew of disintegrating mortgage securities sold through Countrywide.

Last Friday marked the day by which Judge Barbara Kapnick pronounced objections to the settlement had to reach her New York City courtroom. According to Reuters, American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) and a handful of Federal Home Loan banks are still in opposition. For its part, AIG is declaring the settlement “unreasonably and unjustifiably small.”

AIG is determined get some of its own back
American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) is feeling its oats again, and is setting out with vigor to squeeze some reparation from those that assisted with the megainsurer’s downfall. One of those entities is Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC), the not-so-proud owner of Countrywide.

Recently, American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) won a victory over Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) in another suit over $28 billion of crummy mortgage-backed securities, in which the insurer claims that Countrywide and Merrill Lynch lied about the quality of those instruments.

American International Group Inc (NYSE:AIG) is looking for a $10 billion payday in that case, which a judge just agreed should be heard in state court, as AIG wanted, rather than federal court — which was Bank of America’s preferred venue. Despite promises to Bank of America from the New York Federal Reserve Bank of New York, AIG is not backing off its resolution to get back some of the money it lost.

Similarly, the ongoing skirmish between monoline insurer MBIA Inc. (NYSE:MBI) and B of A is also heating up, despite the fact that the insurer did not win a summary judgment in its suit against the bank, which means the whole mess is headed for trial. This doesn’t translate into a cakewalk for B of A, though. The issue of whether or not the big bank is liable for Countrywide’s prior behavior is still up in the air, while earlier court rulings have stated that Bank of America may be required to repurchase even those loans that are not currently in default.