Meet the F*@kers. AIG's Joseph Cassano

[sixmile]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/mar/07/aig-insurance-us-economy
Hedge Fund Hotel Yields Up Secrets
'It was in this London office of AIG that big-brained financial whiz-kids created a casino offshoot of the once-mighty insurer that spectacularly wrecked the company, racking up billions of dollars in losses on arcane derivatives, swaps and contracts. Fatally undermined by the unit's wheeler-dealing culture, AIG crashed to the US's biggest corporate loss of $61.7bn (£43bn) for the final quarter of 2008 and is limping along the brink of oblivion, saved from bankruptcy by an eye-watering $150bn of emergency aid from US taxpayers.

The Federal Reserve chairman, Ben Bernanke, wasted few words in condemning the division's antics, telling Congress this week: "This was a hedge fund, basically, that was attached to a large and stable insurance company."

The Serious Fraud Office is examining exactly what type of business took place on the fifth floor of One Curzon Street, where a team of some 225 staff were managed by a policeman's son from New York, Joseph Cassano, who boasted a degree in politics from Brooklyn College and lived in a company flat behind Harrods. He was scorned by one California congressman, Jackie Speier, as "the golden boy of the casino in London".

The division dates back to 1987, when a small group of former traders from the junk bond firm Drexel Burnham Lambert persuaded AIG's then chairman, Hank Greenberg, that there was a highly lucrative opportunity in offering insurance that would protect banks against default on debt or against fluctuations in the value of derivatives.'



Piece of shit.
$150 billion so far.

[Best_man23]

1. This MORAN should see the inside of REAL PRISON

Unfortunately, he will likely get sent off to some federal country club.

[malaise]

2. Super subject

Lock them up.

[Triana]

3. His slimy ass ought to be in prison right next to Madoff. n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. Interesting article.

[Liberal_in_LA]

5. What the heck is a 'bolt hole'

"Favoured employees were rewarded with trips to a Connecticut rural bolt hole, Morefar, and with shares held in Star International Co, an offshore company, which were often released only to those who stayed to 65. The head of every profit centre was expected to produce a 15% annual rise in profits and net worth or their position would be under threat"

[unc70]

6. An escape-route or a getaway/escape

Originally used wrt burrowing animals having a tunnel/hole they could bolt to when being pursued. A typical one would be just below the entrance to a main burrow/tunnel, its entrance at an angle back towards the surface often obscured by a flap of roots and grass, and its exit some distance away. The fleeing animal who hop into its burrow and quickly scramble up into the hidden escape route -- the bolt-hole -- leaving its hunter digging around in the main burrow.

The Brits use the term to describe a place used to escape from daily life -- maybe a rustic cottage on the coast or an isolated farmhouse in rural France. Probably what they meant in this case.

[Liberal_in_LA]

7. Never heard the term. Thanks for the info.

[Initech]

8. Awesome. Keep shedding the light on the robber barons.