A.I.G. Planning $100 Million in Bonuses After Huge Bailout

[Emit]

March 15, 2009
A.I.G. Planning $100 Million in Bonuses After Huge Bailout
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS and PETER BAKER

WASHINGTON — Despite being bailed out with more than $170 billion from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, the American International Group is preparing to pay about $100 million in bonuses to executives in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year.

An official in the Obama administration said Saturday that Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner had called A.I.G.’s government-appointed chairman, Edward M. Liddy, on Wednesday and asked that the company renegotiate the bonuses.

Administration officials said they had managed to reduce some of the bonuses but had allowed most of them to go forward after the company’s chief executive said A.I.G. was contractually obligated to pay them.

In a letter to Mr. Geithner, Mr. Liddy wrote: “Needless to say, in the current circumstances, I do not like these arrangements and find it distasteful and difficult to recommend to you that we must proceed with them.”

The bonuses will be paid to executives at American International Group’s Financial Products division, the unit that wrote trillions of dollars’ worth of credit-default swaps that protected investors from defaults on bonds backed by subprime mortgages.

An A.I.G. spokeswoman said the company had no comment beyond the text of the letter.

cont'd: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/business/15AIG.html

[leftstreet]

1. Geithner 'asked' the banks to reconsider? ASKED?!

Is anybody in charge here?

[truedelphi]

3. Nope. No One in charge.

Geithner least of all.

Except maybe for Bernanke who just mentioned on Monday to the Council on Foreign Relations that the Federal Reserve will simply have to have control over any influx of monies from BailOuts because it simply has to be that way.

(And so far, Congtress critters questioning the companies that receive the BailOut monies are finding that rules relating to financial "confidentiality" means that no one receiving any money seems to have to really say who got what and when.)

[Lorien]

2. Oh come on. As if there's no way to put a stop to this shit?

Nationalize their asses then! 500k cap. Take it or leave it.

[mbperrin]

4. Taxpayers own 80% of this hulk, and we have no say?

Fold it, flush it, whatever you call getting rid of shit.....


NOW!

[bkkyosemite]

5. They can't spend any bonuses if they are in JAIL..........I know dream on!

[annabanana]

6. "contractually obligated ", my sweet Fanny Adams. .

If they are paying off claim with OUR money, I think that particular horse is out of the barn and 1/2 mile down the road!

[Kablooie]

7. If you'd like to express your opinion to Edward M. Liddy ...

Edward Liddy
CEO A.I.G.

110 Prospect St
Summit, NJ 07901-2472
[phone]

[annabanana]

8. Why is THIS contract the sacrosanct contract?

Haven't these bailed out companies reneged on contracts to their employees? their customers?