AIG

AIG Chief Liddy To Step Down

Zachary Roth | May 21, 2009, 4:41PM

AIG CEO Ed Liddy, who was brought in by the government to try to stabilize the firm amid the financial crisis last fall, is going to step down.

It's unclear exactly why, and for how long the departure had been planned. Here's the key part of AIG's press release:

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AIG

AIG: Our CEO Didn't Know Enough To Testify About What He Testified About

Zachary Roth | May 13, 2009, 5:49PM

Is a cornered AIG now trying to cast doubt on a key part of CEO Ed Liddy's testimony? It sure looks that way...

In his testimony in March before Congress, Liddy was asked about the company's risk management practices concerning AIGFP, the unit of the firm that made those disastrous credit default swaps.

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AIG

How European! AIG Derivatives Traders Go On Strike

Moe Tkacik | May 13, 2009, 5:44PM

AIG CEO Ed Liddy's much-anticipated appearance in Congress today was... not really worth all the anticipation, in our humble opinion. Questions posed by members of the House Oversight Committee included "what is the address of AIG?", an inquiry into whether the company's value was reflected in its stock price, and the follow up to the first question "Is that in New York City?"

But today the blog ZeroHedge wonders something we'd like to see Ed Towns bring up next time: wherefore the apparent halt in the unwind of derivatives held by the money vortex called AIG Financial Products? Back in February the company was saying it had unwound 25% of its $2.7 trillion in notional exposure, which would leave it with 2.025 trillion in outstanding swaps. By March they said they had unwound another $400 billion and change. But in the two months since then, if Liddy's testimony today is accurate, the unit has only managed to offload $100 billion in additional exposure. What's to explain for the sudden halt? Did someone give up "unwinding complex trades" for Lent?

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AIG

Are AIG FP Employees Using Bailout Cash To Get Jobs Elsewhere? Looks Like It, Says AIG Source

Moe Tkacik | May 8, 2009, 4:00PM

Remember the rumors that AIG Financial Products had "thrown in the towel," handing over massive portfolios of derivatives to the trading desks of major investment banks to unwind in a process that gave the beleaguered banking sector a profitable first quarter?

We first heard them back in March from the blog Zero Hedge. Then, sure enough, the banks began reporting first quarter earnings that for the most part beat expectations -- all thanks to record and near-record revenues for their trading operations.

Then the fixed income chief at the hedge fund BlackRock essentially confirmed the story to Bloomberg Radio in a wry interview we partially transcribed.

And now we've heard from an anonymous executive at AIG who is "familiar" with AIG FP...

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AIG

Ashcroft Made Millions As Corporate Monitor, Sees Dire Need For More Corporate Monitoring

Zachary Roth | May 5, 2009, 3:19PM

You can say one thing for John Ashcroft: he's not short on chutzpah.

In an op-ed in today's New York Times, the former attorney general points out a thorny problem that the Justice Department may face as a result of the financial crisis: if there's evidence that a company that has received significant amounts of bailout money committed fraud or other financial crimes, how do the Feds prosecute that company, while still protecting the health of the company on behalf of taxpayers?

The answer, according to Ashcroft: deferred prosecution agreements.

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AIG

AIG Subsidiary Explains "Timely" Decision To Pretend It Was Never Called "AIG"

Moe Tkacik | May 4, 2009, 6:38PM

"We are pleased to announce our decision to rebrand to a familiar name -- VALIC," begins a brochure titled, "Back to our roots" that was recently distributed to holders of policies with the Variable Life Insurance Company. Um, and guess what slightly more familiar name VALIC has decided to cast off? Yes, that would be everyone's favorite federally-funded money vortex the American International Group.

Possibly, and this is entirely idle speculation on our parts but, the fancy public relations firms the zombie insurer retained are known for running focus groups. Perhaps the feedback concluded that somehow the AIG name was a turnoff to people looking for a place to store their remaining life savings?

"We believe this decision is timely," the brochure goes on, adding that with its return to its more venerable brand it restores a name "that has represented more than a half a century of helping people plan for and enjoy a secure retirement"* and also sounds vaguely like the pickle brand, possibly to convey a sense of "preservation."

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AIG

AIG Sets Date For Liddy Testimony -- But Only Under Threat Of Subpoena

Zachary Roth | May 1, 2009, 11:45AM

AIG and the House Oversight committee have agreed to a date, May 13, on which the firm's CEO, Ed Liddy, will testify before the committee. But it looks like Liddy will be going to Washington kicking and screaming.

As we noted earlier this week, the committee invited Liddy to testify May 6, and told us that it expected to see him then. But today the Wall Street Journal reports (sub. req.) that that day "was scrapped because AIG is due to report its results for the first quarter the following day."

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