American International Group has chosen Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley as global coordinators in listing its Asian life-insurance unit this autumn, people familiar with the matter said Wednesday, kick-starting a share sale that could raise as much as $23bn (€17.9bn) for US taxpayers.

The insurer, which is majority-owned by the US government after being rescued in 2008, has also enlisted Deutsche Bank as a global coordinator for the initial public offering of AIA Group, one of the people said.