NEW YORK (Reuters) ? New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer calmed fears that his investigation into American International Group Inc. could lead to criminal charges, saying yesterday that a civil resolution could be worked out with the insurance company.

Along with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Spitzer for months has been looking at AIG?s accounting, ranging from a deal it struck with Warren Buffett?s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to transactions with offshore reinsurers.

?The board and current management of the company are now cooperating with this investigation,? Mr. Spitzer said yesterday.

?Based upon these efforts, and based upon our knowledge to date, we believe that a civil resolution with the corporation will ultimately be achievable.?

Spitzer?s statement came as a welcome relief to AIG investors, who have seen some $57 billion in stock-market value wiped away over the past six weeks. Shares closed $2.35 higher, or 4.6 percent, at $53.30 on the New York Stock Exchange.

?There had been some speculation that there could be a criminal investigation against the company,? said Hilary Hayes, a portfolio manager of Victory SBSF Capital Management in New York. ?Any criminal investigation would have been a major hit to AIG.?

Criminal charges can cause the ruin of a company, as was the case when Arthur Andersen?s business fell apart after it was charged in connection with obstructing an investigation into fraud at Enron Corp.

Even as the threat of criminal charges appeared to diminish yesterday, a host of unanswered questions about AIG remained. Besides its accounting, one area that has raised concerns is AIG?s relationship with Starr International Co., a privately held company that owns about 12 percent of AIG?s stock and acts as a compensation vehicle for its top managers.

AIG executives have traditionally sat on the board of Starr, and its largest stakeholder has long been Maurice ?Hank? Greenberg, the recently ousted AIG chairman and chief executive.

But several AIG executives, including new CEO Martin Sullivan, have now left the board, AIG said yesterday ? possibly assuaging some worries about conflicts of interest.

Mr. Greenberg remains the largest owner of Starr, however, and therefore could still have a hand in compensation decisions for AIG unless the structure is changed.

AIG and Mr. Greenberg are discussing a possible new structure for Starr that would eliminate the former chairman?s influence over AIG executives? paycheques in the future, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

The probe of AIG has also spread to Ireland, where regulators confirmed they have been working with US authorities ?for some months? examining the deal involving AIG and a unit of Berkshire Hathaway?s General Re that has an office in Dublin.

In remarks prepared for a speech this week, Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority Chief Executive Liam O?Reilly says he is ?actively engaged? with the General Re unit and working to ensure ?necessary corrective actions are taken?.

AIG ? which last week announced the resignation of Mr. Greenberg, the delay of its annual report and the discovery of improper accounting ? disclosed over the weekend it learned of efforts to remove documents from its Bermuda building.

Sullivan said the insurer alerted investigators of the incidents.

?We have been working closely with regulators and other authorities to ensure that everyone throughout the organisation complies with AIG?s policy of full cooperation with all investigative efforts,? Mr. Sullivan said.