Legal Commentary

Obama Administration Makes $30B AIG Infusion Contingent On Bonus Repayment

By Big Tent Democrat

The WSJ reports:

Monday afternoon, a White House official said the Treasury Department will use a planned $30 billion infusion into AIG to compel the company to repay the bonuses promised to employees of its financial-products group, which is responsible for selling the exotic financial instruments that brought the company to near-collapse. The infusion, announced March 2, won't be finalized until the company and the Treasury work up repayment options, the official said.

(Emphasis supplied.) Devil is in the details here (a lot of potential for Peter paying Paul in this I think as the employees themselves won't be foregoing the bonuses but rather AIG itself will have to "repay" the government for the bonuses paid), but it looks like it is worth exploring.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on March 16, 2009 (boomark / email).