The Boston Sunday Globe's Other Omissions: AIG's $50 Billion Payout
AIG's Executive Excesses
"AIG, berated for bonuses, details its bailout" by Associated Press | March 16, 2009
NEW YORK - American International Group Inc. yesterday detailed how it used some of its $170 billion in federal bailout money, after the troubled insurer provoked outrage on Capitol Hill over its payment of tens of millions in executive bonuses.
Lawmakers have demanded that the identities of banks and other so-called counterparties that do business with bailed-out institutions be made public.
AIG said it used its $85 billion emergency loan from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in September and other rescue funds primarily to put up collateral for big foreign and domestic banks, including those which have received billions in government bailout money themselves, and to help meet securities lending obligations to banks.
AIG said that between the time it received the loan on Sept. 18 and the end of the year, its securities lending arm used $43.7 billion in public aid to meet obligations to banks, including $7 billion paid to Britain's Barclays PLC, $6.4 billion to Germany's Deutsche Bank, and $4.5 billion to Bank of America.
Others that got between $1 billion and $3 billion from AIG's securities lending unit include Citigroup Inc., Merrill Lynch, Switzerland's UBS AG, and Morgan Stanley.
AIG said it also put up about $22.4 billion in collateral for banks to meet obligations related to risky credit default swaps, including $4.1 billion put up for French bank Societe General, $2.6 billion for Deutsche Bank, $2.5 billion for Goldman Sachs, and $1.8 billion for Merrill Lynch.
Look at the LIST of LOOTERS, 'eh?
And $27.1 billion in payments made by Maiden Lane III, the unit AIG formed to buy securities underlying risky credit default swap contracts, included $6.9 billion to Societe Generale, $5.6 billion to Goldman Sachs, and $3.1 billion to Merrill Lynch.
Yes, YOU ARE PAYING for THEIR GAMBLING SPREE, taxpayers. While you wait and wait and wait!
Municipalities in certain states, including California, Virginia and Hawaii, received a total of $12.1 billion under guaranteed investment agreements. The company said it used the rest of its federal aid to fund its Maiden Lane business, repay debt, and provide capital for operations.
Federal Reserve spokeswoman Michelle Smith said aid to AIG has helped all the counterparties, including policyholders, municipalities, and pension funds.
If you guys helped out the states so much with OUR OWN MONEY, then how come they still going broke? I'm tired of being lied to by some Fed hack!!!
And no, I didn't watch Bernanke! I don't watch tv news anymore.
The details come after the Obama administration and top Republicans voiced sharp criticism over $165 million in bonus payments AIG says it is bound to make under its contracts. AIG Chairman Edward Liddy said the company entered into the bonus agreements in early 2008, before AIG got into severe financial straits.
Excuses, excuses.
AIG has agreed to Obama administration requests to restrain future payments. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed the president's case with Liddy. "He stepped in and berated them, got them to reduce the bonuses following every legal means he has to do this," said Austan Goolsbee, staff director of President Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board.
Oh, yeah, thanks a whole pile! Yup, Geithner tried to pressure those banks for you and oh well, he failed. Sorry, Amurka, sorry! Now chomp down on some of this s***!
