On July 28th, AIG (American International Group, Inc.) sold $679 million in assets to First Insurance Funding Corp. (FIFC).  The sale transferred the majority of AIG’s premium financing loans—loans issued for the purpose of covering the debtor’s insurance premiums—to FIFC.

Ensuant to the sale, shares of AIG and of Wintrust Financial Corp. (FIFC’s parent corporation) experienced an uptick: AIG moved from $13.00 to a high of $13.57, and Wintrust Financial from $17.38 to $19.52 yesterday.

Last September, prior to the crash of the financial industry, AIG comprehended a trillion dollars in assets and business in 130 countries.  AIG sustained considerable injury in the crash and avoided bankruptcy only through the loan of $182 billion from the Federal Reserve (to put that amount in perspective, AIG’s annual revenue before the crash exceeded $100 billion).  Since that time, AIG has divested numerous assets in order to massively restructure itself, in compliance with the conditions of the federal loan.