AIG – News Stories About AIG - Page 7

Geithner Swinging in Wind After Fed Drops AIG Ball

ANALYSIS

Mar 19, 2009 8:35 AM CDT

Geithner Swinging in Wind After Fed Drops AIG Ball

Treasury says Fed kept them in dark, despite sec's previous role

(Newser) - Officials at the Fed knew about AIG's plan to award $165 million in bonuses for months but failed to tell the Obama administration, reports the Washington Post. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner said this week he was "stunned when I learned how bad this was"—belatedly on March 10—...

How Obama Can
Reboot Geithner

ANALYSIS

Mar 19, 2009 7:55 AM CDT

How Obama Can Reboot Geithner

Treasury sec needs a freer hand and more staff to survive

(Newser) - Three times in 3 days the president has had to offer a defense of Tim Geithner, who will almost certainly remain Treasury secretary despite calls to resign. As Eamonn Javers reports in Politico, the White House now has to perform some crisis management: Keep Geithner out of the spotlight, allow...

'AIG Buck
Stops
With Me'

Mar 19, 2009 4:56 AM CDT

'AIG Buck Stops With Me'

'I'll take responsibility,' he tells Californians

(Newser) - President Obama began a two-day swing through California yesterday, again accepting blame for the AIG mess and urging Washington to stop its finger-pointing, the Wall Street Journal reports. “Washington is in a tizzy and everybody is pointing fingers at each other and saying it's their fault, the Democrats' fault,...

House Votes Today
on Bonus Clawback

Mar 19, 2009 3:51 AM CDT

House Votes Today on Bonus Clawback

Bill being rushed through would slap 90% tax on bonuses at bailed-out firms

(Newser) - The House will vote today on a hastily crafted bill to claw back bonuses from executives at AIG and other bailed-out firms, reports the Hill. The bill, drawn up by Democratic tax experts, slaps a 90% tax on bonuses over $250,000 at firms that received $5 billion or more...

Dodd: 'I Saved
AIG Bonuses at
White House
Request'

Mar 19, 2009 2:32 AM CDT

Dodd: 'I Saved AIG Bonuses at White House Request'

He was follwoing White House orders, sayd Senate Banking Committee chair

(Newser) - The bonus loophole mystery has been solved. Banking Committee Chairman Sen. Chris Dodd added language to the stimulus bill that allowed the AIG bonuses to stand—at the request of the White House, he told CNN. The Connecticut Democrat said he did so reluctantly at the insistence of unnamed Obama...

Frank's House Panel to Grill Geithner Twice

Mar 18, 2009 4:17 PM CDT

Frank's House Panel to Grill Geithner Twice

Another Republican congressman calls for him to resign

(Newser) - As criticism of Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner mounts, he is scheduled to take his place on the hot seat next week, the Wall Street Journal reports. Geithner will appear before Barney Frank's House panel—the same one grilling AIG chief Edward Lilly today—Tuesday and Thursday. Two Republican congressmen, Connie...

Just Quit,
Geithner:
GOP Rep.

Mar 18, 2009 1:35 PM CDT

Just Quit, Geithner: GOP Rep.

AIG bonuses is latest of Tim's failings: Mack

(Newser) - The AIG bonus flap is the last straw for Rep. Connie Mack, who today called for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to resign or be fired, USA Today reports. “The scandal is but the latest fiasco under his watch,” said the Florida Republican, the first among GOP congressmen to...

AIG Mess Shows Why the Feds Should Quit Banking

OPINION

Mar 18, 2009 1:08 PM CDT

AIG Mess Shows Why the Feds Should Quit Banking

(Newser) - All the hubbub around AIG and its bonuses is “a complete farce,” Larry Kudlow writes in the National Review. No one should be surprised that those in charge have “completely bungled” the situation. “The government shouldn’t run anything, because it cannot run anything,” Kudlow...

AIG Chief Asks Execs
to Give Back Money

UPDATED

Mar 18, 2009 12:54 PM CDT

AIG Chief Asks Execs to Give Back Money

(Newser) - AIG CEO Edward Liddy faced the music today, telling a House subcommittee he has asked employees who received generous bonuses to give at least half of the money up, and some have already agreed to do so. Liddy jousted with Barney Frank, who threatened to subpoena the company after Liddy...

AIG Chief: I'm Angry About Bonuses, Too

Mar 18, 2009 9:57 AM CDT

AIG Chief: I'm Angry About Bonuses, Too

Liddy blames 'cold realities of competition,' legal issues

(Newser) - Lawmakers read Edward Liddy the riot act today over AIG’s recent bonuses, CNNMoney reports, and the company’s CEO was expected to say he, too, found them “distasteful,” but felt he had to disperse them. “We have to continue managing our business as a business, taking...

White House Foists Bonus Blame on Dodd

OPINION

Mar 18, 2009 9:31 AM CDT

White House Foists Bonus Blame on Dodd

Guilty Obama officials seek to shift AIG fault, press plays along

(Newser) - The White House is trying to pass the AIG bonus blame to Sen. Chris Dodd, pointing to his hand in an executive-compensation clause inserted into the stimulus bill—and journalists are letting it happen, writes Glenn Greenwald in Salon. Actually, the bonuses were only possible because the Obama administration insisted...

AIG Bonuses By the Numbers

Mar 18, 2009 8:37 AM CDT

AIG Bonuses By the Numbers

NY AG releases breakdown of bonus figures; plans to press AIG for names

(Newser) - AIG's $165 million in bonuses went 418 different ways, according to one angry attorney general. Other figures released by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who subpoenaed the firm on Monday:

73 employees received bonuses of $1 million or more
11 of those people no longer work for AIG
7

...

AIG's Bailout Cash Flowing to Hedge Funds

Mar 18, 2009 7:30 AM CDT

AIG's Bailout Cash Flowing to Hedge Funds

$52B has paid off those who bet against the housing market

(Newser) - The government cash flowing steadily into AIG is going in no small part to pay off hedge funds that bet against the housing market, the Wall Street Journal reports. The hedge funds placed credit default swap bets with other banks—Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs are specifically named in documents...

AIG CEO: Bonuses
'Distasteful,' Necessary

OPINION

Mar 18, 2009 6:23 AM CDT

AIG CEO: Bonuses 'Distasteful,' Necessary

Liddy says paying employees will help taxpayer in long run

(Newser) - AIG's $165 million bonus payout has produced "a palpable wave of anger," admits Edward Liddy, the insurance giant's government-appointed CEO. But in an op-ed for the Washington Post, Liddy says that paying employees now will prevent "undue risk" and help AIG wind down the most dangerous positions...

Geithner: We'll
Deduct AIG
Bonuses From
Next Bailout

Mar 18, 2009 4:43 AM CDT

Geithner: We'll Deduct AIG Bonuses From Next Bailout

Insurer will be forced to return $165 million, treasury boss says in letter

(Newser) - Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner promised last night that taxpayers wouldn't be paying a penny toward AIG's massive executive bonuses, Bloomberg reports. He explained in a letter to lawmakers that the government would require the insurer to pay back the $165 million from company operations and that an equal amount would...

AIG Chief to Testify
Amid Rising Rage

Mar 17, 2009 9:33 PM CDT

AIG Chief to Testify Amid Rising Rage

(Newser) - AIG chief Edward Liddy has the not-so-distinct pleasure of testifying before Congress tomorrow just as rage at his company is reaching a full-throated roar. The House and Senate seem to be in a race to see who can recover the $165 million in bonuses faster, the Hill reports. If AIG...

White House on Defensive
as Schumer Warns AIG

Mar 17, 2009 7:04 PM CDT

White House on Defensive as Schumer Warns AIG

(Newser) - The AIG fury grows. The White House today found itself defending Treasury chief Tim Geithner's handling of the bonus mess as congressional anger rose. Under siege by reporters about why the Obama administration didn't act sooner, spokesman Robert Gibbs said the president retains full confidence in Geithner, the Los Angeles ...

Spitzer: AIG Bailout an 'Inside Job'

OPINION

Mar 17, 2009 1:43 PM CDT

Spitzer: AIG Bailout an 'Inside Job'

Scandal isn't bonuses, it's payments to influential debtors

(Newser) - Eliot Spitzer is mad about AIG, and not because it’s giving out bonuses. No, the real scandal, he writes for Slate, is the tens of billions of taxpayer dollars going to pay back AIG’s counterparties. The decision to bail out AIG was made by Henry Paulson, Timothy Geithner,...

73 AIG Execs Got
$1M Bonuses: Cuomo

updated

Mar 17, 2009 1:16 PM CDT

73 AIG Execs Got $1M Bonuses: Cuomo

'08 contracts guaranteed full '07 pay: Cuomo

(Newser) - AIG paid bonuses of $1 million or more to each of 73 employees, including 11 who no longer work for the company, said New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. He subpoenaed information from AIG yesterday saying he wanted to determine whether the payments constitute fraud under state law. In a...

Angry Congress Threatens Big Taxes on AIG Bonuses

Mar 17, 2009 11:55 AM CDT

Angry Congress Threatens Big Taxes on AIG Bonuses

(Newser) - Outraged lawmakers threatened today to impose new taxes to recoup at least some of the $165 million in bonuses that insurance giant AIG awarded executives and traders after getting billions in federal bailout money. "What is the highest excise tax we can impose that will stand up in court?"...