MetaFilter posts tagged with AIG

The Man Who Crashed the World

manny_calavera — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 10:05:20 -0800

Michael Lewis going after Joseph Cassano Trying to find out what happened to the AIG guys who crashed the system. liddy: I’m just not going to do that, sir, because that will provide—that’ll be the—that could be a list of people that we could do—individuals who want to do damage to them could do that. It’s just not … grayson: Not a single one. You’re talking about a group, a small group of people who caused your company to lose $100 billion, as you sit here today, you can’t give me one single name. liddy: The single name I would give you is Joseph Cassano, who ran … grayson: Well, listen, these same people could now be working right now today at Citibank. Is it more important to protect them, the ones who caused the $100 billion loss, or protect us? Which is more important to you right now?

We've only just begun

ryoshu — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:54:31 -0800

No, to us what the fraud Bernard Madoff is to individual investors, AIG is to the global financial community. [via] "In both cases, AIG was engaged in transactions that were meant not to reduce risk, but to hide the true nature of the risk in these companies from investors, regulators and the consumers who rely on these institutions for services. Keep in mind that while the SEC did act to address these issues, the parties involved received light punishments when you consider that these are all felonies that arguably would call for criminal prosecution for fraud, securities fraud, conspiracy and racketeering, among other things. Indeed, this is one of those rare cases where we believe AIG itself, as a corporate person, should be subject to criminal prosecution and liquidation." ... "As with the phony reinsurance contracts that AIG and other insurers wrote for decades, when AIG wrote hundreds of billions of dollars in CDS contracts, neither AIG nor the counterparties believed that the CDS would ever be paid. Indeed, one source with personal knowledge of the matter suggests that there may be emails and actual side letters between AIG and its counterparties that could prove conclusively that AIG never intended to pay out on any of its CDS contracts." "

Letter from an AIG bonus recipient

Argyle — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 06:09:24 -0800

Letter from an AIG bonus recipient - The resignation letter of an AIG executive explaining his point of view on the bonus furor. The proverbial other side of the story.

Bus tours of the rich and infamous

445supermag — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:22:10 -0800

Bus tours of the houses of AIG executives, who are mostly not home or hiding behind security. One A.I.G. executive, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he feared the consequences of identifying himself, said many workers felt demonized and betrayed. “It is as bad if not worse than McCarthyism,” he said.

What the FEC couldn't figure out

shii — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 23:16:04 -0800

Matt Taibbifilter: Among other things, the GAO report noted that the entire OTS had only one insurance specialist on staff — and this despite the fact that it was the primary regulator for the world's largest insurer! This week's MeFi stories have generally failed to explain the reasoning that caused the recession, even though Jon Stewart was basically on the mark. Now, Rolling Stone's only reporter lays it all out The Big Takeover, a typical combination of zealous snark and the overlooked, damning facts needed to clear up a ridiculously complicated story.

AIG Corporate Security's Tips for Surviving an Angry Mob

VicNebulous — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 12:02:34 -0800

AIG corporate memo, leaked to Gawker, advises employees on how not to fall victim to the populist horde calling for their heads.

They paid what to who?

jourman2 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 19:14:42 -0800

On the heels of news about $165 million to be paid as bonuses to AIG employees, the company has released a list of "the counterparties involved in credit default swaps and other transactions in which bailout funds were used to meet A.I.G. obligations." In other words, where your bailout money went. More background here.

Pitchforks to the right, torches to the left

dejah420 — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 22:55:12 -0800

Washington Post reports that the American International Group, which has received more than $170 billion in taxpayer bailout money from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, plans to pay about $165 million in bonuses by Sunday to executives in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year. The payments to A.I.G.’s financial products unit are in addition to $121 million in previously scheduled bonuses.

2008 Corporate bad

adamvasco — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 01:51:56 -0800

In the 20 years that we've published our annual list,

we've covered corporate villains, scoundrels, criminals and miscreants. We've reported on some really bad stuff - from Exxon's Valdez spill to Union Carbide and Dow's effort to avoid responsibility for the Bhopal disaster; from oil companies coddling dictators (including Chevron and CNPC, both profiled this year) to a bank (Riggs) providing financial services for Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet; from oil and auto companies threatening the future of the planet by blocking efforts to address climate change to duplicitous tobacco companies marketing cigarettes around the world by associating their product with images of freedom, sports, youthful energy and good health. But we've never had a year like 2008.

( via ). The people behind the facade. Only Dole does not list its management on its web page. AIG: Money for Nothing. Cargill: Food Profiteers. Chevron: "We can't let little countries screw around with big companies". Constellation Energy: Nuclear Operators. CNPC: Fueling Violence in Darfur. Dole: The Sour Taste of Pineapple. GE: Creative Accounting. Imperial Sugar: 13 Dead. Philip Morris International: Unshackled. Roche: Saving Lives is Not Our Business.

Can I pay my taxes with a student loan?

jckll — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 12:31:56 -0800

After an historic near-collapse (p), a federal bailout to the tune of $85,000,000,000, a second federal bailout to the tune of $37,800,000,000 and one hell of a party (p), the news on A.I.G. just keeps getting better. Now: Fed arbitrage! Paying down a 9% taxpayer loan with a 2% taxpayer loan? Genius!

Screw Disneyland. We're Going to the St. Regis Resort Monarch Beach!

ericb — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 16:00:05 -0800

Last month (Sept. 16, 2008) the American taxpayers bailed out insurance giant American International Group (AIG) to the tune of $85 billion dollars. So, asked "what ya' goin' do now after the bailout?" top executives said "party it up at the St. Regis Resort Monarch Beach (Dana Point, CA) for a week (September 22 - 30, 2008). Total costs? Invoice: $443,343.71. "$200,000 dollars for hotel rooms. Almost $150,000 for catered banquets. AIG spent $23,000 at the hotel spa and another $1,400 at the salon." Said Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD): "They were getting manicures, facials, pedicures and massages while American people were footing the bill. And they spent another $10,000 dollars for I don’t know what this is, leisure dining. Bars?"

CDSs and you.

clevershark — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:55:57 -0800

How AIG fell apart is a good article giving an overview of Credit Default Swaps (CDSs) and the role they played in AIG's struggle. CDS issues are a crisis that quite a few saw coming just a few months ago and one that was discussed here then, although AIG was thought be a special "safe" case among CDS issuers. Indeed it now seems that AIG's particular problem was that it had failed to hedge the CDSs they issued with CDSs acquired from other institutions, presumably on the premise that they were insuring assets too safe to fail.

The Fed "hopes" A.I.G.

aheckler — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 20:16:01 -0800

The Fed has decided to bail out A.I.G. with an $85 billion dollar loan deal, which will result in 80% of the company being owned by the government.

Brokergeddon.

eriko — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 17:39:18 -0800

Lehman Brothers files for liquidation. After an all weekend emergency meeting at the New York Fed, no rescue, and LEH is gone. AIG announcing restructuring tomorrow. Bank of America in merger talks with Merrill Lynch, offering to buy the firm outright at $29/share, which values the 94 year old firm at a paltry $40 billion. The futures market say that stocks are not happy.