Bending AIG Over the Proverbial Barrel
by Chet
New York state attorney general, Andrew Cuomo, has had enough of Taxpayer money being used as bonuses. Today he sent a letter along to AIG’s Chariman & CEO Edward M. Liddy demanding to know why bonuses are being given to AIG Financial Products. This is the section of AIG that sent the mega-firm down the tube in the first place, and now they’re getting bonuses. Glad to know the citizens aren’t the only people who find this to be a little fishy. Check out the full letter from Cuomo at the link below.
UPDATE @ 5:30 3/16:
Cuomo meant business and held up his promise to subpoena AIG if the information was not received by 4:00 p.m. today.
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has subpoenaed American International Group Inc to get information about $165 million in bonuses the insurer is paying. Cuomo said in an interview with CNBC that his office wants to understand why AIG felt compelled to pay the bonuses to employees of its derivatives unit, the main source of the insurer’s troubles. Cuomo wants to see the contracts and is demanding a list of the bonus recipients. He noted that if the government hadn’t saved AIG, the bonus contracts would have been void. Contracts can also be re-negotiated, he added.