Former American International Group (AIG) chief excutive officer Maurice (Hank) Greenberg believes that Bermuda and London have overtaken New York in level of importance as global insurance centres.

According to a report in the UK newspaper the Financial Times, Mr. Greenberg made the comment in a speech last Thursday to insurance industry leaders, citing the regulatory environment as the principal reason for New York’s decline.

“The insurance world moved to New York from London,” Mr. Greenberg was quoted as saying. “I believe it has now moved back to London and to Bermuda. You have to ask yourself why. It’s regulation.”

Mr. Greenberg was forced to step down from AIG two years ago, in the midst of an investigation led by the then New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer.

The probe was looking into AIG’s accounting and use of reinsurance. The company later paid $1.6 billion to settle the investigation but Mr. Greenberg continues to deny any wrongdoing and is contesting a civil fraud case brought by the New York Attorney General’s office.

Many industry leaders have called for changes to US regulation of the industry, which has traditionally been dealt with by individual states, meaning a nation-wide operator has to cope with 50 sets of regulations.

Mr. Greenberg now heads CV Starr, an investment vehicle that owns four specialised insurance agencies. While the firm’s main office is in New York, Mr Greenberg said: “I’m doing more business outside of New York than I am here.”

Bertil Lundqvist, the firm’s general counsel, praised the UK’s Financial Services Authority as a “more predictable regulator” and said the firm is “focusing the business out of London whenever we can. That’s a better place to be.”

Mr. Greenberg also used his speech to the Schiff’s insurance conference to offer a rousing defence of the way he handled AIG’s accounting and to roast his former board for restating more than $3.9 billion in earnings. AIG declined to comment.