New York Fed Helped AIG Withhold Payment Details, E-Mails Show

Copyright 2010 SNL Financial LCAll Rights Reserved SNL Insurance Weekly Property & Casualty Edition

January 25, 2010

146 words

Report: New York Fed helped AIG withhold payment details, e-mails show

Heta Shah

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York helped American International Group to build a case against disclosing details of AIG’s payments to several Wall Street banks after the insurer had thought about making them public, Reuters reported, citing documents.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York helped American International Group Inc. build a case against disclosing details of AIG’s payments to several Wall Street banks after the insurer had thought about making them public, Reuters reported Jan. 17, citing documents.

Lawyers for the New York Fed advised that AIG maintain a “confidential treatment request” from the SEC, according to e-mails provided by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., who is probing the matter. Issa is also seeking testimony from Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on the matter, which saw AIG pay billions to counterparties following its bailout in 2008.

Earlier in January, it emerged that the New York Fed had pressed AIG to withhold details from the public relating to payments to several Wall Street firms on credit default swaps.

January 29, 2010