ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½

ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ to Pay More Executive Bonuses

July 10, 2009

American International Group is preparing to pay next week millions of dollars more in bonuses to dozens of corporate executives, a source familiar with the development said.

ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ has been talking with Washington’s newly-appointed compensation czar Kenneth Feinberg about the bonuses, which are due to be paid on July 15, said the source.

The company is reviewing its compensation plans with Washington as it tries to avoid the national furor set off by $165 million in retention bonuses paid to employees of a financial products unit in March. Much of ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s $99 billion in losses last year stemmed from derivatives written by that unit.

Feinberg was appointed last month to oversee the compensation of top executives at seven firms that have received large federal bailouts.

The firms must convince Feinberg “they have struck the right balance to discourage excessive risk taking and reward performance for their top executives,” Treasury spokesman Andrew Williams said in a statement, responding to ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s pending bonus payments.

“That process is just beginning now, and Feinberg has begun consulting with those firms about their compensation plans,” the statement said, adding the Treasury will not “provide a running commentary on that process.”

ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½, which declined to comment, has received more than $80 billion in federal loans in successive bailouts since its near-collapse last September. In total, U.S. taxpayer aid of up to $180 billion has been extended to the insurer that once claimed global dominance.

The payments ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ is set to make next week were previously disclosed. About 40 senior managers were awarded some $9 million in performance bonuses for 2008 but payments were to be partly staggered throughout 2009, and contingent on certain targets related to ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s restructuring.

ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ is in the midst of reducing liabilities at its financial products unit, and selling or spinning off some of its prized insurance operations in a bid to repay taxpayers.

In total, ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ last year agreed to pay in excess of $1 billion in retention payments and performance bonuses to employees across the organization, including to the financial products employees.

Some financial products executives agreed to return their bonuses in full or in part after the payments spurned anger across the nation.

(Reporting by Joanne Allen and David Lawder in Washington, and Lilla Zuill in New York; Editing by Gary Hill and Muralikumar Anantharaman)

Topics Washington ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½

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Latest Comments

  • July 22, 2009 at 8:06 am
    That's my tax money says:
    How in the wolrd can we tax payers agree to pay bonuses to a failed company that we have bailed out. If you aren't making money for the company you sure as sam hell shouldn't ... read more
  • July 14, 2009 at 9:46 am
    bababooey says:
    makes perect sense; ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ can't risk losing all that managerial talent that led the company into financial ruin.
  • July 13, 2009 at 6:12 am
    wudchuck says:
    well, most folks don't realize that ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ is more than an insurance company. many of you know they have changed the insurance to 21st century and then sold it to farmers. many... read more

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