Word: aig
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
President Barack Obama took to the podium in the East Room to tag AIG by name, calling its financial predicament a product of "recklessness and greed." The President said he has asked Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to "block these bonuses and make the American taxpayers whole," adding, "This isn't just a matter of dollars and cents. It's about our fundamental values...
...move came after Obama officials spent part of the weekend playing defense on AIG, as more details of the bailout became public. But the harsh criticism of the company is unlikely to stem rising public outrage with the multibillion-dollar cleanup operation. That anger came after federal officials named dozens of U.S. and European financial institutions that, together with municipalities in Virginia, California and elsewhere, have shared in more than $170 billion in AIG bailout money. (See 25 people to blame for the financial collapse...
Before Obama spoke, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined a bipartisan gaggle of congressional leaders to denounce the bonuses, which she called "outrageous." Pelosi demanded that "executives at AIG right the wrong they have done to American taxpayers, who are footing the bill for the most expensive government rescue in history. They should renounce the bonuses and refuse the excessive retention pay they previously agreed...
...part, AIG claims the company is contractually required to pay its employees - including $9.5 million to top executives - and that the money is necessary to retain "the best and the brightest" to keep the insurance giant afloat...
Obama's focus at the White House was on bonuses for AIG's 370-person financial products division, the London-based unit largely responsible for the company's debacle involving bad bets insuring mortgage-backed securities. Overall, however, three separate, AIG-wide retention and bonus payments due to start later in March will spread some $1.2 billion among roughly 6,400 of the firm's 116,00 staff. Seven people at the financial products unit are in line for more than $3 million in extra 2008 compensation...