Insurer American International Group Inc has asked a court to block Maurice “Hank” Greenberg’s efforts to sue the U.S. government on AIG’s behalf, saying its former CEO has not proven he should have the right to do so. Earlier this year, AIG drew sharp criticism from members of Congress and an outraged public when the firm considered the possibility of joining Greenberg’s lawsuit, which challenges the terms of the insurer’s $182.3 billion bailout by the federal government in 2008. AIG said Greenberg had forced its hand in even deliberating the prospect, but that ultimately it did not want to sue anyway amid a public backlash. Absent AIG’s participation, Greenberg is pursuing a derivative claim, seeking to sue the U.S. government on AIG’s behalf over the terms of the $182.3 billion rescue. Greenberg and his company Starr International, which owned 12 percent of AIG before the rescue, are also suing the government directly.
Snowflake
Maurice “Hank” Greenberg, the former American International Group chief executive, has more than doubled the size of his class-action lawsuit against the United States over the insurer’s bailout to roughly $55.5 billion from $25 billion. In an amended complaint filed late Monday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Greenberg’s Starr International Co said it is now seeking damages over Maiden Lane III LLC, a vehicle designed to rid banks of toxic debt underlying transactions with AIG. The claims are in addition to claims that Starr previously asserted over the government’s taking of a 79.9 percent stake in AIG in September 2008, which was eventually swapped for 562.9 million common shares. In the amended complaint, Starr said it is seeking to recover, on behalf of shareholders and the company, $23 billion over the government’s 79.9 percent stake, plus as much as $32.5 billion of collateral it said was given away through Maiden Lane III. It is also seeking unspecified damages related to AIG’s 1-for-20 reverse stock split in June 2009. [Reuters]
Consumers’ “better halves” will shell out the most on their partners, with the average person planning to spend $74.12 on their spouse or significant other, up from $68.98 last year. Additionally, consumers will spend and average of $25.25 on their children, parents or other family members and $6.92 on friends….the average person will spend about $4.52 on their pets. [WaPo, earlier]
“What’s The Largest American Express Giftcard I Can Give To My Dog, And Can I Pay In Cash?”
By Bess Levin
We were going to spend some time making fun of the fact that the cost of the fight to seize Snowflake’s not-quite-a-billion-dollar inheritance from AIG’s Hank Greenberg is fast approaching the $120 million paid to AIG employees in Bonuses and other compensation earlier this year, except that latter figure has been revised upward just a bit in the interim- from $120 million to $454 million. Of course, this latest figure has little to do with the accursed AIG Financial Products division (AIGFP) anymore, instead representing “other forms of compensation across all of its businesses” as opposed to “what was paid to executives at the company’s headquarters and high-ranking officials at various AIG units.” But, seriously, what kind of fun is it to say “Quickly approaching the sums spent by AIG on “executives at the company’s headquarters and high-ranking officials at various AIG units”?
AIG’s Bonuses Inflate To $454m [The New York Post]
He’s probably just going to enjoy a quiet evening at home with Snowflake, but that doesn’t mean you can’t help the li’l fella ring in his 84th by starting a letter writing campaign to your congressmen and local media outlets encouraging them to get the word out via megaphone that none of this AIG shit was his fault, and lobby Oprah, who’s been holding out on having him on, to let Big G clear his name.
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