A.I.G Bonus Round

[RonBoyd]

A.I.G. to Pay $100 Million in Bonuses After Huge Bailout

Despite being bailed out with more than $170 billion from the Treasury and Federal Reserve, the American International Group is preparing to pay about $100 million in bonuses to executives in the same business unit that brought the company to the brink of collapse last year.

 

[bssc]

You have to retain the talent that got AIG there. Going to make for some interesting talk shows. I would be calling for Liddy's resignation.

 

[Dawg52]

You would think the government could stop this. That is flat out bs.

 

[Tadpole]

So the one's causing the problems are still employed

Anyone else sick and tired of idiots/crooks being considered the best and brightest in this nation?

 

[Hal3]

I say we should not have given them a dime. Let the chips fall where they may. End of story.

 

[jug]

What you guys are looking at, the screwup by the banks and AIG is probably the largest bankheist in history.

Taxpayer money, courtesy of our largest bank, Fed Res, is paying for the losses and bonuses of the follies of gamblers posing as professionals. It's the socialization of capitalism's losses.

What amazes me the most is that the American people are not massing around the Capital demanding heads and blood. Guess the numbness prevents them from doing so, or is the the overdosing on Bud.

Interesting little Republic we have here.

jug

 

[Tadpole]

jug, The American people still believe there are free lunches delivered from the rear end of politicians and business magnates.

 

[RonBoyd]

The NYTimes editorial staff has some questions. (Well, wouldn't they?)

Following the A.I.G. Money

 

[jug]

jug, The American people still believe there are free lunches delivered from the rear end of politicians and business magnates.

The American Sheeple are politically very unsophisticated, almost primative and naive in their belief that those in power and authority know what's best for you.

What's needed here is a healthy dose of skeptism and the intense questioning and scrutiny of authority figures.

Case in point, the bailout itself. No one in government has demonstrated to us that failure to bailout the banks and AIG would result in systematic failure. The sheeple simply accept it, and stew in their juices.

What the politicians and thieves in this country need is a good dose of genuine fear. This can only be brought about by the people taking to the streets in masses and demonstrating angrily. That is only a start, this thing is going to take years to shake out, and it may very well lead to civil unrest if things deteriorate more.

Just because the market picks up a few points here and there does not mean the massive debt being incurred borrowing all this money to cover the bets of idiots has gone away.

We are just too trusting, it's almost like an abused wife identifying with her abuser. Time to make Washington and Wall street shake in their boots a bit.


jug

 

[ziggy29]

For someone who works in that industry today, just having a JOB is a bonus.

 

[Dennis]

Well, the way I understand the AIG situation? It goes back to our Congress, droping many Banking Regs ( Barney Frank & The Dems) to Let More $ go to the Poor...( Subprime anyone?) and the Previous Administration Telling our SEC and other Agencies to keep hands off.. And There was Alot of 'Behind Closed Doors" deals going on in 04-07' to fund other Projects, we may not know about for decades.. Listed as Top Secret..

And don't you love it how Our Politicans THINK they are as smart or smarter than Big Business...? It was Big business Who Put them in office in the first place!.. Just for this reason... Wonder why Big business Doesn't want a Business Wise Politician...

Remember how the Insurance Co.'s Controlled Congress? They still do.....
and AIG? Guess who insures the Congressional pension program and Most of The rest of Goverment Workers..?

And You Wonder wonder why Mr. W. Buffet is in the Insurance business...?

 

[Gone4Good]

For someone who works in that industry today, just having a JOB is a bonus.

From my experience yours is a minority opinion. Most of the folks I know feel quite entitled to six, seven and even eight figure compensation and are quite beside themselves that anyone would dare question this.

Here's one for you . . .

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a7gAuJNf0Gr4&refer=news

 

[RonBoyd]

For someone who works in that industry today, just having a JOB is a bonus.

That's what they think. Oh! I am sorry. I misread. I thought you said "deserves a bonus."

 

[Running_Man]

Having just watched a clip of Treasury Secretary Paulson on Fox News on the 2 Trillion show, they asked how did you come up with the original 700 billion as the bailout? His response: "Well, I could sit here and tell you I thouht 5% of the GDP was necessary to stabalize the situation, but hte truth is we knew we had a big problem and I thought 700 billion was the largest amount I could get successfully through Congress.

 

[Koolau]

"Well, I could sit here and tell you I thouht 5% of the GDP was necessary to stabalize the situation, but hte truth is we knew we had a big problem and I thought 700 billion was the largest amount I could get successfully through Congress.

That's just about what I thought. I knew it wasn't any rational examination of the problem followed by a well thought-out solution. The only thing that's difficult to believe is that Paulson would be so honest. Of course, it could be even worse. He might have figured we would buy this 'stupid' answer while we wouldn't believe the 'actual' answer. Who knows?

 

[Hal3]

On the bright side we have saved the wooden arrow manufacturers.

Lloyd Chapman: Bailout Bill Gives Tax Break to Wooden Arrow Manufacturers While Small Business Get the Shaft

I shudder to think where we would be now if they had gone under.

We would be paying their pensions, health care, etc, etc.

Just sayin' ....

 

[Gone4Good]

On the bright side we have saved the wooden arrow manufacturers.

Yup. Congress is made up of a bunch of a holes. But had that bill not passed, things would be a whole lot worse right now.

So on the bright side, we still have a functioning financial system.

 

[Hal3]

things would be a whole lot worse right now.

But had that bill not passed, things would be a whole lot worse right now.

You may be right.

They would certainly be a lot worse for some people ... right now.

 

[harley]

For someone who works in that industry today, just having a JOB is a bonus.

There was an interesting blurb in last month's Forbes where an anonymous Wall Street trader defended the bonuses saying if he brought in $100M, why shouldn't he be entitled to a 1% bonus? I just saw a response in the new issue where a reader said they wouldn't have a problem with that as long as the trader put up a $25M bond of their own money up front so they could be penalized 5% when they lost $500M (since the loss hurt more than the gain helped). Otherwise just be satisfied with making $400K for playing with other people's money.

Sounds good to me.

 

[Htown Harry]

The best idea I've heard is what Credit Suisse has done:

ZURICH/NEW YORK, Dec 18 (Reuters) - Credit Suisse Group AG will pay senior executive bonuses with troublesome, illiquid assets, forcing employees to take on the risk that at least some of them put on the Swiss bank's books.

The new plan will cut the bank's risk exposure by linking most of its top executives' bonus payouts to some $5 billion in illiquid and often opaque assets, which have tumbled in value amid the credit crisis.
UPDATE 3-Credit Suisse execs get bonus in risky assets | Global Industries | Financial Services | Reuters


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[clifp]

I really like both ideas posting a bond and paying them in bad assets. Making the professional share in some of the risk is one of the keys to restoring faith and fairness in Wall St. I think stock options/restricted stock which vest over many years actually are a good compensation practice. One of the downsides of the debate about stock options,is it caused companies switched from stock to cash, although evidently some of the investment banks (Goldman, IIRC) paid a lot of compensation in stock.

 

[mickeyd]

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says his office will investigate whether recipients of the payments were involved in the insurance giant's decline and whether the payments are fraudulent under state law.


4PM deadline. Today.

In a letter to CEO Edward Liddy, Cuomo said he's been investigating AIG compensation arrangements since last fall and would issue subpoenas at 4 p.m. EST Monday if he didn't get the names of employees scheduled for bonuses plus information about their work and contracts.

N.Y. AG Wants Answers On AIG Bonuses - CBS News