AIG Agrees to Freeze Executive Bonuses

Government should focus on reducing stake, restructuring firm, former CEO says

(NEWSER) - AIG’s former CEO told Congress today the bailout of the insurance firm has “failed” and that the government should restructure the company, the Wall Street Journal reports. At a House committee hearing, Hank Greenberg said he blamed his successors for the firm’s implosion: "I think they got greedy. I think they wrote considerably more business than they should have." More»

Greenberg's new insurer poaches AIG employees at taxpayers' expense

(NEWSER) - Hank Greenberg built AIG into a $1 trillion behemoth that needed the biggest bailout in history—but quietly, the former CEO has begun a new insurance company, CV Starr, that is poaching some of AIG's leading talent. He just got an unintended assist from the Treasury: Tough new pay rules at AIG have sent employees fleeing to Greenberg, further hurting the mega-company's ability to pay back the taxpayer. "Basically, he's just starting AIG Two and raiding people out of AIG One," said one insurance exec. More»

(NEWSER) - Robert Benmosche has been at the head of AIG for 48 hours now, so naturally it's time for a vacation. The new CEO of the four-times-bailed-out insurer is leaving for his 8,000-square foot villa on the Adriatic for the next two weeks. "It’s probably not a propitious time for an incoming CEO to begin with a vacation," one HR manager tells Bloomberg. More»

Bill being rushed through would slap 90% tax on bonuses at bailed-out firms

(NEWSER) - The House will vote today on a hastily crafted bill to claw back bonuses from executives at AIG and other bailed-out firms, reports the Hill. The bill, drawn up by Democratic tax experts, slaps a 90% tax on bonuses over $250,000 at firms that received $5 billion or more in federal aid. The House Judiciary Committee is racing to complete another bill allowing the Justice Department to target the bonuses as “excessive payments.” More»

NY AG releases breakdown of bonus figures; plans to press AIG for names

(NEWSER) - AIG's $165 million in bonuses went 418 different ways, according to one angry attorney general. Other figures released by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who subpoenaed the firm on Monday:

• 73 employees received bonuses of $1 million or more
• 11 of those people no longer work for AIG
• 7 employees received bonuses of more than $4 million
• The top recipient received a $6.4 million bonus