It was back to the future as the Chartis Building on Richmond Road officially became the American International Building again.Attending Friday’s ceremony were dozens of staff from American International Group’s (AIG) long-established Bermuda operation, as well as representatives from the US Consulate.The Chartis brand has been used as the name for AIG’s property and casualty insurance operations for the past three years, after the group was rescued from near collapse by the US Government during the financial crisis of 2008.The company announced earlier this year it would dispense with the Chartis name and go back to AIG brand.AIG was brought to its knees four years ago, not by its insurance operations, but by the credit default swap business of its London-based Financial Products unit.At one point, the bailout stretched to more than $180 billion of US taxpayer funds. AIG’s name was tarnished and the bailout even led to company staff being harassed and abused.AIG CEO Robert Benmosche has led the turnaround, re-establishing morale among staff and paying back bailout debts, principally through large asset sales.David Valzania, president and CEO of American International Company Ltd in Bermuda, said the restoration of the 41-year-old building’s former name was a great milestone for the company.“AIG is a strong brand around the world and its return is being welcomed,” Mr Valzania said. “For many people the AIG name never left.“We have shown that the company has recovered. The US taxpayer has been paid back in full, with $15 billion in profit.”The US Government still owns about 15 percent of AIG — worth more than $7 billion based on Friday’s closing stock price. Anything received from the sale of that stock will add to taxpayer profit, he added.US Consul General Robert Settje attended the ceremony and heard Mr Valzania announce to staff: “We owe a huge debt of gratitude to the US taxpayer for helping us get back on our feet — it was life-saving aid.”In an interview, Mr Valzania said the return of the American International Company name — introduced when the company launched as one of the Island’s first international companies in 1947 — was particularly poignant in Bermuda.By the mid-1950s the company employed more than 300 people in Bermuda. Before the 2008 crisis, there were still more than 200 employees. Now the number has fallen to 160.“There has been a tremendous amount of transformational change over the past four years,” Mr Valzania said. “We’re very focused on profitability. There has been some diminution of the underwriting staff.”Mr Valzania noted that rivals had “ramped up their operations in hopes of our demise”, but had been disappointed that AIG had managed to survive and recover its business.“In the first couple of quarters after the crisis, we lost a few clients, but now we’ve got up to about 90 percent client retention,” he said. “Client loyalty has been very strong.”In Bermuda, the company writes excess liability catastrophe business, property and casualty business under the Lexington name, has a global fronting business which works with major corporation captives, and a captive management operation.Mr Valzania said the staff were particularly happy to have the AIG name back.“For some of them, their parents or grandparents worked here and American International is such a big name in the international business story here,” he said.“Now it’s feels like we’ve reached the finishing line after a long and difficult journey.