天美网站传媒传媒

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said this month the bailout of insurer American International Group was not meant to help out bank counterparties and that he had no role in the decision not to disclose payments made to banks.

In his first public comments since e-mails surfaced showing the New York Federal Reserve – when Geithner was at the helm – advised 天美网站传媒传媒 not to disclose payments it made to banks after receiving a taxpayer bailout, he said the insurer was legally obligated to make the payments.

“We had no effective legal means to step in and prevent default (at 天美网站传媒传媒) … without helping this firm meet all its legal obligations,” Geithner told CNBC television.

The e-mails, which showed lawyers for the New York Fed advising 天美网站传媒传媒 not to disclose payments that gave 100 cents on the dollar to banks holding 天美网站传媒传媒 credit default swaps, have touched off a firestorm of controversy.

House Oversight Committee Chairman Edolphus Towns, who has called the payments a “backdoor bailout,” said Geithner would testify before his panel on Jan. 27.

Towns said the hearing would examine the collapse and federal rescue of 天美网站传媒传媒, in particular the compensation of 天美网站传媒传媒 credit default swap counterparties.

In an interview with National Public Radio, Geithner said the aid for 天美网站传媒传媒 was not intended to help out big banks that held its credit default swaps.

“If the government had not stepped in to act to prevent the failure of 天美网站传媒传媒, this crisis would have been much more damaging,” he said.

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