The world's largest insurer, American Insurance Group (AIG), has revealed plans to take a $1.8bn (£609m) charge to boost its reserves for insurance losses.
The company said that it was forced to increase the reserves because settlements and judgments from litigation had reached record levels in 2002.
It added that the charge was not related to asbestos settlements. Instead the charge is due to workers' compensation claims, medical litigation and suits involving corporate governance issues, it said.
