By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close

Forums - General - Wall Street is like a reality show now

Galaki on 19 March 2009

source

AIG CEO Asks For Half Of The Bonus Money Back

By Meg Marco, 2:59 PM on Wed Mar 18 2009, 9,282 views

AIG CEO Edward Liddy told the House Financial Services subcommittee this afternoon that he has asked the members of the Financial Products division to voluntarily return half of their bonuses.

"It was distasteful to make these payments," said Liddy. "This morning, I've asked the employees of AIG Financial Products to step up and do the right thing. Specifically, I've asked those who received retention payments in excess of $100,000 or more to return at least half of those payments."

When asked by Chairman Barney Frank if he would agree to provide the names of the bonus recipients to the committee, Liddy agreed on the condition that they would remain confidential.

Frank refused to promise confidentiality and informed Liddy that he will subpoena the information if it is not provided. Liddy responded by reading from a recent death threat that suggested AIG employees and their families should be executed "with piano wire," claiming that releasing the names would endanger the lives of AIG employees.

Chairman Frank explained that the Congress would follow the advice of law enforcement and security advisers once the names were turned over, but that he was not persuaded by the death threat argument.

Asking for money back? LOL.



Pre-order limited edition Blue Slime Condoms

Around the Network
akuma587 on 19 March 2009

Yeah, it is pretty damn bizarre. And it is gong to bite Wall Street in the ass soon because no one is going to have any sympathy when it is time to start imposing regulations. You may see caps on bonuses across the board that are PERMANENT. Do I think that is a good thing? No. Do I think it is a real possibility? Yes.

The bonus things are a big deal and represent that Wall Street needs to get its fucking head straight, but people are completely blowing it out of proportion. That money is less than 1% of what the government gave AIG and AIG would be breaking civil laws if they didn't pay out that money.



We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.  The only thing that really worried me was the ether.  There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke

It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson

Words Of Wisdom on 19 March 2009

AIG is contractually obligated to pay those bonuses AFAIK.

The government is basically forcing AIG to either potentially get sued by its employees (if the bonuses are taken away) or have its money taken away via taxes.

Even worse, now the government sounds like it's going to go after the individuals who did absolutely nothing to deserve it.



Galaki on 19 March 2009
Words Of Wisdom said:
AIG is contractually obligated to pay those bonuses AFAIK.

 

If that isn't a broken contract, what is?



Pre-order limited edition Blue Slime Condoms

akuma587 on 19 March 2009

AIG could have easily handled the situation. You think those employees would not have renegotiated those contracts if AIG said that there would likely be a civil and criminal investigation involved if they paid the bonuses as they are? I don't think so. Nobody wants that kind of heat. And there is a good chance it will follow these people permanently now. They may be shunned from any firm on Wall Street for life.

Just because a contract says something doesn't mean the parties can't renegotiate it because the circumstances are different.



We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.  The only thing that really worried me was the ether.  There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke

It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson

Around the Network
Words Of Wisdom on 19 March 2009
akuma587 said:

Just because a contract says something doesn't mean the parties can't renegotiate it because the circumstances are different.

Depending on the contract specifics, reneging on them could possibly cost AIG as much as or more than paying the bonuses.

You can't just say "Things have changed, we need to redo this" when it comes to legal matters like contracts.



akuma587 on 19 March 2009

I'm sure all of those people who are currently being paid those bonuses prefer what just happened. Don't be surprised if everyone's name who was paid a bonus is released to the public. This will follow some of these people for the rest of their lives and quite a few of them might lose their jobs.



We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.  The only thing that really worried me was the ether.  There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke

It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson

Words Of Wisdom on 19 March 2009
akuma587 said:
I'm sure all of those people who are currently being paid those bonuses prefer what just happened. Don't be surprised if everyone's name who was paid a bonus is released to the public. This will follow some of these people for the rest of their lives and quite a few of them might lose their jobs.

Is there a reason that you posted again with pretty much the exact same content as your previous post without responding at all to anything I said?  Redundancy is boring.



luinil on 19 March 2009

You know, instead of going after individuals who are getting paid as per their contract demands, why doesn't Congress go after AIG's payments to foreign banks? It was something along the lines of $80-90 Billion. That is a bigger story and issue to me. These ~164 million in bonuses are "nothing to quibble over" to quote House Ways and Means committee chair Schumer.



Luinil - Marisa (FE:SS). She's calm, collected, and really likes swords. (Courtesy of Words of Wisdom)
Tag: luinil - "Liberalism is a mental disorder." - Thanks fkusumot!
akuma587 on 19 March 2009
luinil said:
You know, instead of going after individuals who are getting paid as per their contract demands, why doesn't Congress go after AIG's payments to foreign banks? It was something along the lines of $80-90 Billion. That is a bigger story and issue to me. These ~164 million in bonuses are "nothing to quibble over" to quote House Ways and Means committee chair Schumer.

Payments to foreign banks?  So now a bank can't let that money leave the U.S.?  Protectionism much?

 



We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers…Also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls.  The only thing that really worried me was the ether.  There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge. –Raoul Duke

It is hard to shed anything but crocodile tears over White House speechwriter Patrick Buchanan's tragic analysis of the Nixon debacle. "It's like Sisyphus," he said. "We rolled the rock all the way up the mountain...and it rolled right back down on us...."  Neither Sisyphus nor the commander of the Light Brigade nor Pat Buchanan had the time or any real inclination to question what they were doing...a martyr, to the bitter end, to a "flawed" cause and a narrow, atavistic concept of conservative politics that has done more damage to itself and the country in less than six years than its liberal enemies could have done in two or three decades. -Hunter S. Thompson