NEW YORK (Bloomberg) - American International Group Inc. (AIG), the insurer majority-owned by the US government, may sell bonds for the first time since it was rescued almost two years ago to help repay a $182.3 billion bailout.

AIG may also issue stock, it said in an August 9 filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mark Herr, a spokesman for the company, declined to comment.

The insurer, once the world's largest, was rescued in September 2008 after mounting losses on securities linked to sub-prime-mortgage debt. AIG must show it can raise money, sell assets, boost profit and improve risk management, Treasury Department chief restructuring officer Jim Millstein said at a May hearing of the Congressional Oversight Panel.

"The company will have to demonstrate independent access to the capital markets and secure standby lines of credit," Mr. Millstein said.

The New York-based company is in talks with regulators to become independent of the government, CEO Robert Benmosche said in an August 6 memo to employees.

"Depending of course on market conditions, which could remain volatile, we expect to make meaningful progress in 2010 on repaying the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and over time fully repaying all of our obligations to taxpayers," he said.

The rescue includes a $60 billion Federal Reserve credit line and a Treasury investment of as much as $69.8 billion. Under the plan, the Fed also agreed to pay up to $52.5 billion to buy mortgage-linked assets owned or backed by the insurer.

AIG has tapped about $49 billion from two Treasury facilities and owes more than $23 billion on the credit line.

Its plane-leasing unit, International Lease Finance Corp., sold $4.4 billion of secured and unsecured notes on Aug. 11 to repay loans from the insurer. AIG raised $3.25 billion in its last sale of corporate bonds in August 2008, Bloomberg data show.

The US government is working on a plan to dispose of its stake in the company while leaving the insurer with an A credit rating or better to attract customers and investors.

Treasury is considering a plan to convert AIG preferred shares into common stock and sell the holdings over two years, a person with knowledge of talks with the insurer said in April.