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Greenberg attacks US over AIG
By Francesco Guerrera and Chrystia Freeland in New York
Published: March 9 2009 02:00 | Last updated: March 9 2009 02:00
Hank Greenberg, the former chief executive of AIG, has accused the US government of bungling the insurer's rescue by imposing a high-interest loan and forcing the repayment of $30bn (£21bn) plus to banks and trading partners.
In a video interview with the Financial Times, Mr Greenberg, who led AIG for 38 years before being ousted in 2005 during a probe of its accounting practices, suggested the US authorities' actions made the company's break-up inevitable.
"You're not going to see an AIG - AIG will be gone, it will be broken up into many pieces," he said days after the company, which is 80 per cent owned by the government, received its third bail-out in five months.
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Mr Greenberg attacked the government's decision last November to pay out more than $30bn to institutions that had purchased AIG's insurance on mortgage-backed securities. He argued that though the value of those collateralised debt obligations had fallen - and AIG had suffered big losses on them - the counterparties, believed to include Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and other Wall Street names, had the full value of their investments returned.
"Christmas came early for many of them. It was a gift," Mr Greenberg said.
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http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e89d9ea2-0...0779fd2ac.html
By Francesco Guerrera and Chrystia Freeland in New York
Published: March 9 2009 02:00 | Last updated: March 9 2009 02:00
Hank Greenberg, the former chief executive of AIG, has accused the US government of bungling the insurer's rescue by imposing a high-interest loan and forcing the repayment of $30bn (£21bn) plus to banks and trading partners.
In a video interview with the Financial Times, Mr Greenberg, who led AIG for 38 years before being ousted in 2005 during a probe of its accounting practices, suggested the US authorities' actions made the company's break-up inevitable.
"You're not going to see an AIG - AIG will be gone, it will be broken up into many pieces," he said days after the company, which is 80 per cent owned by the government, received its third bail-out in five months.
...
Mr Greenberg attacked the government's decision last November to pay out more than $30bn to institutions that had purchased AIG's insurance on mortgage-backed securities. He argued that though the value of those collateralised debt obligations had fallen - and AIG had suffered big losses on them - the counterparties, believed to include Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank and other Wall Street names, had the full value of their investments returned.
"Christmas came early for many of them. It was a gift," Mr Greenberg said.
...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e89d9ea2-0...0779fd2ac.html
video is on the ft page
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e89d9ea2-0...nclick_check=1
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