NEW YORK - Star investor Warren Buffett will appear before regulators on Monday as part of a probe into accounting of non-traditional products in insurance, his holding company Berkshire Hathaway said Friday.
Berkshire said in a filing that its General Re unit has been the subject of questions from regulators at the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Attorney General's Office and the US Department of Justice.
Regulators "have jointly interviewed a number of current and former officers and employees of General Re and General Reinsurance, and have indicated they plan to interview additional such individuals," Berkshire said.
General Reinsurance and General Re are indirect, wholly owned subsidiaries of Berkshire. News of the interview came amid a report in The Wall Street Journal that Buffett gave a tip to regulators that led to the fall of ousted American International Group chief executive Maurice "Hank" Greenberg.
Greenberg will also land in front of regulators next week, according to the Wall Street Journal, which reported that Buffett took previously undisclosed steps to provide documents describing a suspected transaction between Berkshire and AIG.
On Thursday, the SEC ordered AIG to stop any destruction of documents that might shed light on allegations of murky dealing.
04/08/2005 13:58 GMT