At AIG’s annual meeting, one upset shareholder pointed out how much PwC, the insurer’s independent auditor, had been paid over the past two years. 

AIG paid PwC a total of $131 million in audit and other fees in 2008 and $119.5 million in 2007. 

“I want to know what these fees were paid for,” shareholder Kenneth Steiner of Great Neck, New York said. “Why didn’t anybody know what was going on? What were the accountants doing? Were they sleeping?”

The fees look large but are not unheard of.  GE, for instance, paid KPMG $133 million in 2008 and $122.5 million in 2007.

Still, Microsoft paid its auditor, Deloitte & Touche, a fraction of that — only $27.9 million in 2008 and $23.5 million in 2007.

AIG CEO Edward Liddy defended PwC, saying the auditor had raised early concerns about controls at the division blamed for AIG’s near collapse — AIG Financial Products. 

“PricewaterhouseCoopers conducted itself well over the last couple of years,” Liddy said. “They put a material weakness on the company with respect to its controls around FP (AIG Financial Products).”

A potential deal between Paramount and rivals Sony and Fox to merge DVD operations would save costs for the studios amid a slump in sales. Hollywood studios are cutting expenses to cope with stagnant video sales and new technology that is steering people online. A portfolio manager called the potential move a “monumentally sensible thing to do” according to Reuters’ story here.

Deals announced on Wednesday include:

Britain’s International Power said on Wednesday it would sell its Czech business to the Czecho-Slovak investment firm J&T Group for 581 million pounds ($963 million), net of expenses, boosting its shares. 

 CEZ has agreed to purchase a 49 percent stake in heating plant Prazska Plynarenska from Czech-Slovak private equity firm J&T, the Czech power group said.

Asia-focused Standard Chartered is in talks to purchase banking assets in China and India owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) a source with direct knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday. 

Japan’s Shinsei Bank plans to buy rival Aozora Bank in a deal that brings together two loss-making lenders in hopes of building a stronger bank that can return to growth in both retail and corporate banking.

 World No. 2 brewer SABMiller will sell 10 percent of its South African unit to black investors in a deal worth $750 million to meet the country’s affirmative action rules, it said on Wednesday.  

 Saudi-based dairy firm Almarai Co said on Wednesday it has reached an agreement to buy all shares in Hail Agricultural Development Co (Hadco) widening its scope to the poultry business.

The bidding war for U.S.-based Borland Software Corp heated up on Wednesday as British software firm Micro Focus International Plc sweetened its cash offer to $1.50 per share from $1.15 per share, topping a proposal made by an unnamed bidder last week.

General Motors is back in bankruptcy court on Wednesday, seeking approval to sell its choice assets to a “New GM” in a plan to reinvigorate the automaker under U.S. government ownership.

Reuters reporters Emily Chasan and Phil Wahba will be filing updates from the hearing in the live headline box below and on the DealZone Twitter feed.

Japan’s Shinsei Bank (8303.T) and Aozora Bank (8304.T) say they plan to merge at a ratio of one to one — creating a bank with combined assets of $186 billion. Morgan Stanley (MS.N) and Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (8306.T) have agreed to pool their lending resources. And China approves its first major IPO in almost a year, giving Sichuan Express Co approval to float. For these and other Reuters deal stories, click here.

And here’s our press digest on things deals-related.

Citigroup Inc (C.N) is in final talks to sell its Japanese trust bank, NikkoCiti Trust & Banking Corp, to a Nomura Holdings Inc (8604.T) subsidiary for an estimated $210 million, the Nikkei business daily says.

India’s United Spirits (UNSP.BO) has received term sheets from Blackstone (BLK.N), KKR and Capital International interested in buying a stake worth $250-300 million in the company, the Economic Times says.

British retailer Tesco (TSCO.L) is a potential bidder for nationalised bank Northern Rock, UK newspaper the Times reports.

Bank of America Corp’s (BAC.N) primary investment management unit is drawing lower than expected bids after likely suitor Blackrock’s (BLK.N) acquisition of Barclays Global Investor (BARC.L), the Financial Times says.

Shinsei Bank (8303.T) and Aozora Bank (8304.T) are likely to seek an injection of public funds to shore up their capital as the two loss-making lenders merge their businesses, the Nikkei business daily says.

Patrick Degorce is planning to launch his own fund after splitting from high-profile hedge-fund manager Christopher Hohn, hoping to raise as much as $1 billion over time, the Wall Street
Journal says.