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T O P I C     R E V I E W
raybond  - posted
Insurer AIG to make $165 million in bonus payments
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer Martin Crutsinger, Ap Economics Writer
1 hr 35 mins ago

WASHINGTON – American International Group is giving executives in its most troubled business unit tens of millions of dollars in new bonuses even though it received a taxpayer bailout of more than $170 billion dollars.

AIG has said it must pay out the executive bonuses to meet a contractually obligated Sunday deadline, but the troubled insurance giant has agreed to administration requests to restrain future payments.

The Treasury Department determined that the government did not have the legal authority to block the current payments by the company — which are part of a larger total payout reportedly valued at $450 million. AIG declared earlier this month that it had suffered a loss of $61.7 billion for the fourth quarter of last year, the largest corporate loss in history.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has asked that the company scale back future bonus payments where legally possible, an administration official said Saturday.

This official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said that Geithner had called AIG Chairman Edward Liddy on Wednesday to demand that Liddy renegotiate AIG's current bonus structure.

Geithner termed the current bonus structure unacceptable in view of the billions of dollars of taxpayer support the company is receiving, this official said.

In a letter to Geithner dated Saturday, Liddy informed Treasury that outside lawyers had informed the company that AIG had contractual obligations to make the bonus payments and could face lawsuits if it did not do so.

Liddy said in his letter that "quite frankly, AIG's hands are tied" although he said that in light of the company's current situation he found it "distasteful and difficult" to recommend going forward with the payments.

Liddy said the company had entered into the bonus agreements in early 2008 before AIG got into severe financial straits and was forced to obtain a government bailout last fall.

The large bulk of the payments at issue cover AIG Financial Products, the unit of the company that sold credit default swaps, the risky contracts that caused massive losses for the insurer.

A white paper prepared by the company says that AIG is contractually obligated to pay a total of about $165 million of previously awarded "retention pay" to employees in this unit by Sunday, March 15. The document says that another $55 million in retention pay has already been distributed to about 400 AIG Financial Products employees.

The company says in the paper it will work to reduce the amounts paid for 2009 and believes it can trim those payments by at least 30 percent.

Bonus programs at financial companies have come under harsh scrutiny after the government began loaning them billions of dollars to keep the institutions afloat. AIG is the largest recipient of government support in the current financial crisis.

AIG also pledged to Geithner that it would also restructure $9.6 million in bonuses scheduled to go a group that covers the top 50 executives. Liddy and six other executives have agreed to forgo bonuses.

The group of top executives getting bonuses will receive half of the $9.6 million now, with the average payment around $112,000.

This group will get another 25 percent on July 14 and the final 25 percent on September 15. But these payments will be contingent on the AIG board determining that the company is meeting the goals the government has set for dealing with the company's financial troubles.

The Obama administration has vowed to put in place reforms in the $700 billion financial rescue program in an effort to deal with growing public anger over how the program was operated during the Bush administration.

That anger has focused in part on payouts of millions of dollars in bonuses by financial firms getting taxpayer support.

In his letter, Liddy told Geithner, "We believe there will be considerably greater flexibility to reduce contractual payments in respect of 2009 and AIG intends to use its best efforts to do so."

But he also told Geithner that he felt it could be harmful to the company if the government continued to press for reductions in executive compensation.

"We cannot attract and retain the best and brightest talent to lead and staff the AIG businesses, which are now being operated principally on behalf of the American taxpayers — if employees believe their compensation is subject to continued and arbitrary adjustment by the U.S. Treasury," Liddy said.

Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.
 
moremula  - posted
The funny part about this article on Obama adminstration being outraged if you want to call it funny, is the fact that our government has intelligent people in varying branches. To act like they didnt know this was going to happen is an insult to the citizens of the US. Anything our government wants to know they usually know it in advance

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/31bafc52-1192-11de-87b1-0000779fd2ac.html?referrer_id= yahoofinance&ft_ref=yahoo1&segid=03058
 
raybond  - posted
What they did was legal to do I am sure aig made sure they checked with there attorneys first. Lets see what Obama and his crew do I have herd on meet the press today that they are fuming.

Yes they did know there intensions were to give bonuses they asked them not to but they did it anyway.

Nationalize them and send a message if necessary send in paratroopers and escort them to federal prison. This a serious sittuation we have on our hands.And IMHO we will see just how bad it will get. Then people will look at corporations like aig and consider them traitors and not folk hereos
 
moremula  - posted
If the government owns the majority of aig shares then there should be no debate, time wasted ,etc. on the bonus issue. the bailout $$$ was suppose to help aig survive not make the executives rich. anyway i thought this was suppose to be a loan, and that the taxpayers would get paid back. Pay us back now and lower our tax rates,
lol
 
jgrecoconstr  - posted
I would love to know who would have the balls enough to sue for their bonus. All the court would have to do is say hey you got a job be happy about that. And if they are the best and brightest why are they in this mess to start with. I want a job there.
 
CashCowMoo  - posted
Here's the thing. Our government is so ate up that it is not too hard to stay one step ahead of them. It is that simple. SEC? IRS? This is a product of their own making.
 
bdgee  - posted
This is a product of republican making and there is no question about that. Anyone saying otherwise is either a fool or a liar.
 
CashCowMoo  - posted
quote:
Originally posted by bdgee:
This is a product of republican making and there is no question about that. Anyone saying otherwise is either a fool or a liar.

That is the most ignorant statement you have made in the past 8 hours.
 
bdgee  - posted
Very well may be. Of course it is a fact.
 
Propertymanager  - posted
This is just one of the negative effects of the government bailing out these companies. If they had been allowed to fail, then a bankruptcy judge would open these contracts and the executives wouldn't get these bonuses. With the government bailing them out, their contracts are still in place and they are legally required to pay these bonuses. Having the government buy into the idea of ignoring the contracts and refusing to pay the bonuses (outside of bankruptcy) is VERY DANGEROUS. Once it becomes apparent that contracts (the contract laws) are meaningless, then the expense of doing business and the cost of buying any product will dramatically increase.
 
raybond  - posted
This is the republican side to the bail out all this money was given to them to do as they please with now with obama it is going to be different they have guide lines and have to report.
 
raybond  - posted
AIG ships billions in bailout abroad
Eamon Javers Eamon Javers
Sun Mar 15, 8:40 pm ET

Billions of American taxpayer dollars used to bailout insurance giant AIG are flowing to some of the largest foreign banks in the world, according to new documents released by beleaguered company Sunday.

The revelation seemed sure to cause political complications for President Barack Obama and his economic team, already on the defensive Sunday over why they couldn’t stop AIG from doling out $165 million in bonuses to some of its top corporate officials – even as the company was receiving a massive infusion of taxpayer funds.

The documents AIG released account for some of the more than $180 billion in aid that AIG has received, and they detailed for the first time which financial firms are benefitting from the federal handout.
In all, AIG disclosed payments of $105.3 billion between September and December 2008. And some of the biggest recipients were European banks. Societe Generale, based in France, was the top foreign recipient at $11.9 billion, Deutsche Bank of Germany got $11.8 billion and Barclays, based in England, was paid $8.5 billion.

Here in the U.S. , Goldman Sachs received $12.9 billion. Edward Liddy, the government-installed CEO of AIG, sat on the board of directors of Goldman Sachs until he joined AIG.

He took the position while President Bush's Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson—who until joining the administration had served as Goldman's Chairman and CEO—arranged the insurance company's initial government bailout.

The disclosure of US taxpayer money going to foreign banks rankled some analysts. “These revelations raise serious questions about the extent to which U.S. taxpayers are being asked to bail out foreign banks,” said James Rickards, the Senior Managing Director for Market Intelligence at Omnis, an applied research organization. “Why were French and German authorities not asked to pick up the tab for their portion of potential AIG losses?”

Political pressure is also building on AIG, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Sunday called on AIG executives to “renounce” their bonuses and refuse retention pay, and said that House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank would “examine options that are legally available to recover taxpayer funds of companies that abuse the privilege of taxpayer assistance.”

The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, and Government Sponsored Enterprises has called on Liddy to testify before the committee on Wednesday.

That’s information that members of Congress and media outlets have been trying to get either AIG or the federal government to divulge since last year. The U.S. government now holds a majority stake in the bank,

AIG has resisted disclosure of the so-called "counterparties" who were at the other end of the firm’s complicated financial transactions. The company argued that such information was proprietary and private. And the Bush and Obama administrations also declined to divulge the information. But some in Congress pushed hard for it, insisting that taxpayers had a right to know which companies were benefiting from bailout money.

"Our decision to disclose these transactions was made following conversations with the counterparties and the recognition of the extraordinary nature of these transactions," said Liddy.
 
Lockman  - posted
quote:
Originally posted by raybond:
This is the republican side to the bail out all this money was given to them to do as they please with now with obama it is going to be different they have guide lines and have to report.

The first Tarp program was opposed by the Republicans in the house and senate. It was the Democrats who got in bed with Bush.

Ironic.
 
glassman  - posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lockman:
quote:
Originally posted by raybond:
This is the republican side to the bail out all this money was given to them to do as they please with now with obama it is going to be different they have guide lines and have to report.

The first Tarp program was opposed by the Republicans in the house and senate. It was the Democrats who got in bed with Bush.

Ironic.

and if the GOP had been in charge? they would have done the same thing as the Dems.

it is simply a luxury at this point that they can claim to be the nay-sayers. it s also a luxury at this point to be able to complain about hte bonuses instead of fighting for bread in lines.

in 29? they bailed out no-body and the great depression was formed.

600 banks failed the first year it was thousands per year each year for several years after.
 
Lockman  - posted
These bonuses are nothing compared to the liability the American people are exposed to as we continue to prop up fail institutions.

Where still not safe from an all out collapse it's just now we have no safety net.

It's amazing that you now trust the same government to solve this mess that just last year you distrusted.
 
bdgee  - posted
These stemulus amounts are nothing compared to the liability the American people are exposed to if we allow those banks fail and we have to pay all the guaranteed amounts for deposits that will come due. It won't be just a couple of trillion bucks.....think in terms of dozens of trillions.
 
glassman  - posted
quote:
Originally posted by Lockman:
These bonuses are nothing compared to the liability the American people are exposed to as we continue to prop up fail institutions.

Where still not safe from an all out collapse it's just now we have no safety net.

It's amazing that you now trust the same government to solve this mess that just last year you distrusted.

Lock, i hear what your are saying but i don't hear a solution.

trust the govt?

listen, people trusted Bush when he said Sadam was involved in 911 and had WMD...

i trusted him then. i don't trust any of them now.

what's your proposition? you offering US a choice or what? cuz all i hear is grumbling.

i bought arototiller and i am starting a garden in a very serious way. i'm also blowing glass every day til it gets too hot and then i'll spend all summer selling it for whatever i can get for it,and then i'll do it again next year too..

please tell me, what else am i supposed to do?
 
Lockman  - posted
Glass, You sound like you've drunk the kool-ade and it surprises me.

Bush and Paulson pulled the same trick on this fiscal mess as they did on the Iraq war.

Do you really think congress had to act within 24 hrs or the financial system would collapse?

They called a bunch of senators into a room and told them we are doomed unless we give Paulson 700 billion dollars to save the world.
Paulson tells them he needs the money to buy up toxic assests so the banks won't go insolvent.
They give him the money and the first thing he does is spend 350 billion on something else.

This just empowered the incomming administration to ask for everything under the sun and congress because they had the check book out decided to give them anything they wanted.

Congress is now stumbling around trying to find out what to do with all this money. There throwing money around and have no idea what it's being used for or where it's going.

We have a system in place that handles problems with companies that become insolvent. It's called B/K and there are steps that should have been taken to solve these issues in the usual way.
Why wasn't this done? If the B/K system then looked as though it was going to have problems resolving the insolvent issues, the government could have stepped in and thoughtfully helped out.
What we have now is an out of control money grab.

The government has created an environment in the financial systems that know one understands.

On top of this financial uncertainty the congress and this president have decided to additionally muddy the waters with hugh social agenda proposals.

Creating jobs thru the traditional federal responsiblities such as infrastructure and education are good.
Extending unemployment benefits until the economy gets sorted out is also not an unreasonable expense and is needed.

But until the economy is righted huge social changes to health care and energy should be put on the back burner so as to make sure we as a country can afford to weather the change.

Right now the way I see this government stumbling around with the issue at hand, I seriously wonder how much else I want them commiting me and my fellow American too.
 
glassman  - posted

Bush and Paulson pulled the same trick on this fiscal mess as they did on the Iraq war.


uhm what evidence to you have to support that?

i waited until the Senate report was issued in June 2004 to raise hell..

i was suspicious from the second month on (cuz we didn't go straight to the caches) because i know that we had AWACS and satellites watching Iraq pretty close, but i waited anyway...

if you remember? i posted right her to get completely out of the market when it made it's second top, i can find the post and bring it forward if you wish. i mentioned keeping your marbles. you can find it yourself that way... late sept or oct last year..

i had already begun digging on what CDSes ( 40 plus trillion dollar "secret" market) were and i was also the first person that i know of to discover the upcoming mark-to market rule change and how the major Invesment banks had NEVER adjusted their books to reflact what was coming. ignoring the new rule was the kiss of death and they ignored it on purpose maybe? i dunno. Merryl was in the best shape in following that new rule, and they got bought cheap...

you can tell me that it was engineered to happen.

i will beleive that...

however, once the engineering is compelted? we have to live with what the outcome is.

does that make sense to you? i am i explainng it clearly?

somebody ran the computer models... and figured out how to crash the sytem for profit..

a major part of the systemic problem that they took advantage of was naked short selling...

i was tracking KNIGHTs 10K's every quarter, watching how much they were carrying in their sold but not yet purchased liabilities section. it had grown incredibly...
they were betting they'd get to cover cheap..

it's not koolaid...


What we have now is an out of control money grab.

i've posted as much myself... yet i try to keep reminding people who say let them fail, that it amounts allowing a 25% PLUS unemployment rate.

we won't recover from that. it's like a pump that runs dry, priming it is a beach, it's better to keep it form running dry...

i was right about Bush. i was right about Hillary running this last cycle 4 years ago.. i am right about this. i wouldn't say i told you so if it wasn't important. i don't do this to try to keep score, i like chatting. it makes me look deeper into things. challenge me to find answers? i'll go hunt them down as best i can for you and me...

i have four monitors here and i use one to do nothing but google up info to refute or back up arguments... and i see alot of lies on sites that i discard...

we almost failed after 911... that was kept secret. we made it thru only to be gutted by our own people.. i assume this was all insiders who did this, cuz they needed alot of data to do it.
 
glassman  - posted
We have a system in place that handles problems with companies that become insolvent. It's called B/K and there are steps that should have been taken to solve these issues in the usual way.

BK doesn't work when there's nobody to buy the assets of say. AIG...

no lenders to raise capital buy from, and the govt will sell off AIG when (if is not an option) the economy improves..

AIG is bankrupt. it's just being handled differently because there was no way the courts could handle it properly and it would take years.. in the meantime the economy would have ground to a halt.

the US govt is the lender of last resort. welcome to the last resort,

get a rototiller and plant a garden. that's the best insurance right now... everybody likes to eat.
 
Lockman  - posted
quote:
Originally posted by glassman:
We have a system in place that handles problems with companies that become insolvent. It's called B/K and there are steps that should have been taken to solve these issues in the usual way.

BK doesn't work when there's nobody to buy the assets of say. AIG...

no lenders to raise capital buy from, and the govt will sell off AIG when (if is not an option) the economy improves..

AIG is bankrupt. it's just being handled differently because there was no way the courts could handle it properly and it would take years.. in the meantime the economy would have ground to a halt.

the US govt is the lender of last resort. welcome to the last resort,

Well seeing as my idea of using the usual methods wasn't tried I guess we'll never know.

What is done is done. Now we'll see if there are any elected officials smart enough to solve the problem or at least get out of the way and let someone who can.
 
glassman  - posted
you are correct we'll never know, but AIG didn't cause lehman to fail or all the other investment banks in the US to become commercial:

The last two major bulge bracket firms on Wall Street were Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley until both banks elected to convert to traditional banking institutions on September 22, 2008, as part of a response to the U.S. financial crisis

an era ended..
Lehamn was founded before the Civil War.
 
CashCowMoo  - posted
REPUBLICAN ethics Raybond? Well look at this!!!

Photobucket
 
raybond  - posted
Republican ethics you are all a national disgrace all ofyou
 
Machiavelli  - posted
quote:
Originally posted by CashCowMoo:
REPUBLICAN ethics Raybond? Well look at this!!!

Photobucket

You sound like that is something new... Big Corporations for the most part are neither Rep or Dem... they are for whomever is in power at the time or will be in power... so AIG contributing to the Dems more in 2008 is no surprise... if there was indication that the GOP would prevail I have no doubt that chart would look mighty different...
 
glassman  - posted
they are for whomever is in power at the time or will be in power... so AIG contributing to the Dems more in 2008 is no surprise... if there was indication that the GOP would prevail I have no doubt that chart would look mighty different...


that is absolutely correct. they pay for winners...

and they often pay both candidates JUST to make sure they have the winner.. the losers they paid won't show up on that list.
 
CashCowMoo  - posted
So it's ok for Chris Dodd to take over $100K from AIG, but if a Republican would have been number one im sure a lot here would be all over it. You see the hypocrisy?


Look who was number 2!!!! OBAMA! $101K!!!!!!
 
glassman  - posted
but John MCain took 59,000 cash...

does it matter that much? i think not.

Hillary got 35K... this is what we have to fight to stop no matter which party we for or against.
 
raybond  - posted
You are 100% right cash cow republicans are not Americans and can't be trusted only jailed
 
Machiavelli  - posted
quote:
Originally posted by raybond:
You are 100% right cash cow republicans are not Americans and can't be trusted only jailed

lol.. so true...
 
moremula  - posted
this is what we have to fight to stop no matter which party we for or against.
-------------------------------------

Exactly

Theres so much arguement on which party represents the people the most, but it appears that both sides had there own agendas at heart,and that agenda is what pays them the most money.
 



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