How Hard the Fed Looked for AIG’s Potential Losses

[chill_wind]

How Hard the Fed Looked for AIG’s Potential Losses
by Sharona Coutts, ProPublica - March 25, 2009 9:37 am ED

Before you handed over $85 billion to a failing company, what sort of information would you need to know about it?

(...)

So what information did they have? And what information have they used in the following six months, which saw three additional bailouts, each one prompted by apparent realizations that the situation was even worse than was known before?

The public still does not know the answer, but that is slowly starting to change.

(...)

Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) wrote to both the Fed and Treasury in late January, asking essentially the same questions about what information the government used to justify its AIG rescue, which has grown to a commitment of up to $180 billion.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York responded to his inquiry and has since sent representatives to Washington, D.C., to meet with Cummings, who said the Fed was "forthcoming" and responded with "candor" to his request.

But the discussions were confidential; a Cummings staff member said the congressman can't discuss them.

"I look forward to the release of additional information to the public regarding the valuations that the Fed is conducting to assess AIG's business lines," Cummings said in an e-mail to ProPublica. "The more information we have, the more we can be assured that these valuations are being conducted appropriately and that AIG can one day repay the money it owes to the millions of taxpayers who continue to struggle every day to make ends meet."

The Treasury -- which has the most money on the line when it comes to AIG -- has not yet responded to Cummings' request. No one at the hearing asked Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, who was head of the New York Fed when the initial decisions were made, to provide Treasury's set of numbers.

So while some rays of sunlight are starting to poke through the clouds, the public and Congress for the most part remain in the dark.

http://www.propublica.org/article/how-hard-the-fed-looked-for-aigs-potential-losses-325

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Why doesn't Geithner have to answer certain pesky questions? Will all our future oversight of all the new power we'd like to give him have to be threat of subpoena oversight?

Why Did Citi Get Bailout Money Meant For ‘Healthy’ Banks?
by Jeff Gerth, ProPublica - February 4, 2009 12:13 pm EST


US Levin To Subpoena Treasury TARP Contract With Citibank
1-11-09 3:47 PM EST | E-mail Article
By Corey Boles Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES


How Citigroup Unraveled Under Geithner's Watch
By Jeff Gerth, ProPublica. Posted January 15, 2009.
Obama's pick for Treasury Secretary has some serious strikes against him -- especially when it comes to regulation.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x4979094

[chill_wind]

1. .

[marketcrazy1]

2. read this........................

http://www.scribd.com/doc/13116173/AIGs-Report-to-Senate-Banking-Committee

[chill_wind]

3. Wow. Thank you for the link- reading it now.....

I'm up to page 17 where they they get to

The large size of their derivatives books



:-(

[marketcrazy1]

4. chill_wind

after reading that I would not be surprised if they end up getting another 100 billion or more......................

[chill_wind]

5. Scary..stuff..

I can't even get my head around these numbers and the scope of this. It's numbing.

"How about a $684 *trillion* bailout?"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=114&topic_id=61740&mesg_id=61740

[marketcrazy1]

6. at first I thought, fuck AIG let them go BK

but after reading that I am not so sure,, either it`s scare tactics or it is true. either way I do not think i would be vary comfortable rolling the dice on these guys.. ( letting them go bankrupt )