US – Elizabeth Monrad, chief financial officer at US educational pension fund group TIAA-CREF, has stepped down because she is being investigated in relation to the General Re affair.

The New York-based group said Monrad had been granted unpaid leave of absence to deal with possible enforcement action by the Securities and Exchange Commission related to her former job at the insurer, which is part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway group.

General Re is being probed about its relationship with embattled insurance giant AIG. The matter has prompted the departure of AIG chairman Hank Greenberg and put Buffett, the world’s second richest man, in front of regulators. At issue are alleged improper transactions which regulators say were designed to camouflage losses.

The $340bn TIAA-CREF said Russell Noles, vice president of internal audit, would take over as acting CFO.

Monrad’s involvement in the General Re affair follows an SEC investigation into TIAA-CREF’s accounting procurement last year which led to the resignation of two trustees.

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