NEW YORK (Bloomberg) — American International Group Inc., the insurer that pledged to curb spending after hosting a $440,000 gathering following a federal bailout, said yesterday it will cancel most of its planned meetings and conferences.

AIG chief executive officer Edward Liddy "ordered the immediate cancellation of all outside meetings, conferences, and recognition events across AIG, except those that are required by law or that are deemed absolutely critical to sustain our ongoing business needs," spokesman Nick Ashooh said in an e-mail.

Earlier yesterday AIG scrapped a seaside conference at the Ritz-Carlton in California's Half Moon Bay "after a re-evaluation of the costs under the new circumstances," said spokesman Joe Norton.

AIG suffered a barrage of criticism after the $440,000 gathering at a California hotel, just days after an $85 billion bailout by the US Government.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus yesterday demanded more details from the Federal Reserve on AIG's event last month, including "who we can fire."

"This kind of behaviour is an insult to taxpayers," the Montana Democrat wrote in a letter to Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke. He asked for a response by October 23.

"Incentives for sales departments have proven over time that they work, and that's true in every business that depends on the selling effort," said Dean Bare, managing director of Stanton Chase International, an executive search firm. "If these trips didn't work, they would have stopped doing them a long time ago."