Cuomo Says 15 of Top 20 AIG Bonus Recipients Giving Back Money
From the New York Times:
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York announced late Monday afternoon that 9 of the top 10 bonus recipients at the American International Group were giving back their bonuses.
He also said 15 of the largest 20 bonus recipients in A.I.G.’s financial products division had agreed to give back the money, for a total that he estimated at about $30 million. “Those bonuses will be returned in full,” Mr. Cuomo said during a conference call with reporters.
The attorney general noted that about 47 percent of $165 million in retention bonuses was awarded to Americans, accounting for nearly $80 million. All told, Mr. Cuomo said, A.I.G. employees have agreed to return about $50 million in bonuses.
Mr. Cuomo acknowledged that some bonus recipients declined to give back bonuses, especially those overseas who are outside the jurisdiction of New York State.
AIG Has Paid Out 32% More in Bonuses Than Previously Reported
From The Guardian:
Embattled American insurance giant AIG, which is at the centre of a huge political row over bonuses, has paid out far more than previously thought to its executives, it was revealed yesterday.
In shelling out a reported $165m in bonuses to its top staff, AIG had already caused an almost unprecedented wave of anti-corporate anger in the US. The row has rocked President Barack Obama’s administration and prompted new laws in a bid to try to claw back the money.
But now documents obtained by Richard Blumenthal, the attorney general of Connecticut, where AIG has offices, show the firm in fact has in fact paid out $218m in bonuses, 32% more than previously thought. The shocking news is certain to further inflame popular emotions against AIG, the financial sector as a whole and embattled Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner.
The Daily Graphic: AIG Political Donations to Federal Candidates 2008 Cycle
If you wonder why Sen. Chris Dodd, D-CT, slipped an amendment into the recently enacted stimulus bill which made it easier for AIG to pay bonuses with your money, just follow AIG’s money. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, Dodd received nearly $104,000 in political contributions from AIG or its employees during the 2008 election cycle. The full list is below. In all, AIG accounted for nearly $650,000 in contributions to federal candidates during the cycle. President Barack Obama topped the list of recipients with Dodd in second place. Graphics below from the Center for Responsive Politics.
List of AIG’s Top Political Money Recipients
AIG: The PR Nightmare That Keeps on Giving
Last Weekend Bonus Story, This Weekend AIG Suing the IRS
How many WTF? moments will the American International Group give us by the time the company is once again solvent or is finally taken out behind the barn and put out of its misery?
Last Saturday night, with just enough time to allow the Sunday shows to prepare killer questions for Larry Summers, the AIG bonus story entered the media consciousness. If you’ve been in a cave all week the story goes something like this: Since last September the U.S. government has pumped $170-180 billion into the gaping maw of the world’s largest insurer and biggest loser in the reality show known as the credit default swap market. Uncle Sam now owns 80% of AIG. It was revealed last Saturday that the company has paid $165 million in bonuses to executives and staff of its financial products division. This is the division that has essentially ruined the entire company. The American public is royally pissed off and every politician worth his or her salt is “outraged.”
Government Officials Knew About AIG Bonuses Well Before Last Weekend
This from the New York Times tonight:
Interviews with senior Federal Reserve and Treasury officials, as well as members of Congress, leave little doubt that the bonus program was a disaster hiding in plain sight. Mr. Geithner is not the only one who appears not to have understood the populist fury the bonuses would set off.
Career staff officials at the Treasury, Fed and Federal Reserve Bank of New York exchanged e-mail messages about the A.I.G. bonus program as early as late February, according to a person familiar with the matter. A.I.G. itself revealed the bonus plan in regulatory filings last September.
