Word: aig
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...meltdown in decades unscathed. The firm was a prominent player in the trading of credit default swaps, and that market for bond insurance has been battered by the rising defaults in home loans and other debts. Worse, some politicians and regulators, irked by the huge losses rung up by AIG in CDS contracts, have talked about creating a central exchange, much like the New York Stock Exchange, where the bond insurance would trade. Some have proposed doing away with CDS all together. Those changes would significantly curtail, or wipe out, Cantor's profits in its CDS business. What's more...
...assets on their balance sheets, the banks sharply curtailed lending, threatening to throw the economy into a tailspin. The Bush and Obama Administrations poured money into the banks to allow them to restart some lending, but the toxic assets remained on the banks' books. (See five lessons from the AIG-bonus blowup...
...most of Goldman's trading profits came from such liquid investments as Treasury bonds and not in the trickier markets for subprime mortgage bonds or credit default swaps, which can be harder to buy and sell. Goldman said it made very little money from CDS contracts it settled with AIG, but declined to comment exactly how its trading profits were generated. A Goldman spokesman said, "By putting the capital on our balance sheet to work we are helping the market to function, which benefits the market and the economy." The spokesman said Goldman is comfortable with its risk profile...
...limits as to how banks are supposed to use the government assistance they receive. Lawmakers, who passed the $700 billion financial relief fund in October, originally pressured banks to use government money to make loans. But as the banks' conditions deteriorated and the economy worsened, those demands have faded. AIG, Merrill Lynch and other Wall Street firms have come under fire for paying out rich bonuses to executives despite receiving billions in government assistance. In response, lawmakers have tightened executive compensation rules for banks that have received TARP funds. While Goldman's profits are sure to raise eyebrows...
...these ratings are inaccurate or get downgraded, this will dramatically affect the CDS and cause panic. Therefore, the government must institute a reasonable collateral requirement for the sale of CDSs. Further, rating agencies must closely monitor investing schemes that use insurance from highly rated firms like AIG to make risky investments in poorly rated firms...