Fund sues AIG, alleging misleading statements

Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossman filed a class-action lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, saying AIG filed "false and misleading" news releases and financial statements.

These statements indicated AIG had insulated itself from the credit crisis and housing slump because of superior risk management, the firm said.

In February, AIG's accounted determined the company was not keeping accurate track of the value of a book of contracts called credit default swaps.

The losses on this book have now breached $20 billion, helping drag AIG's stock down by nearly half, from more than $75 at its peak last year.

AIG shares closed up 85 cents, or 2.3 percent, at $37.81 Thursday. The stock hit $36.70, its lowest point since October 1998 shortly after the open.