...AIG: From Bailout to Bonuses (2008) Based on a paper by: Paige Vandermyn & Holden Canty Summary by: Andrew F. Roberts During 2008's "too big to fail" bailouts exercised by the federal reserve, many struggling multi-national companies were awarded cash in hopes of avoiding bankruptcy. One company deemed simply too big to fail was the American International Group, Inc. (AIG for short), which provides insurance for individuals and businesses. The company, which would have almost certainly been forced into bankruptcy if not for the bailout, received hundreds of millions of dollars to keep from drowning. However, in an utterly shocking series of events, the company paid $218 million to top executives in bonus money. In a completely unethical fashion, the company used taxpayer bailout money to fund vacations and private jet flights to the executives who many blamed for causing AIG's financial troubles in the first place. Additionally, many senior employees were flown to California for a "retreat" including spa treatments and golf outings. This retreat cost over $400,000 dollars. By the end of 2008, AIG had received over $100 billion in bailout money. Unfortunately, the general public was not sure if the money was going toward improving business of simply paying for luxuries of the organization. These actions by AIG completely ignored each and every theory related to the study of ethics. In regards to the individualistic theory of ethics, AIG seemingly followed...
Words: 660 - Pages: 3
...fourth largest company according to “Global Forbes” in 2000. The company’s leading position in the global financial services market gives it significant bargaining power. However, exposure to the U.S sub prime crisis was the reason for its collapse. The AIG Financial Products unit, unfortunately, was operating as a company within the larger company in that the 500 employees of the unit who specialized in derivatives and complex financial contracts that were tied to subprime mortgages, sold credit default swaps (CDS) to financial institutions who in turn sold mortgage-based securities to the public. This of course contributed to the financial crisis of 2008 in that banks sold mortgages to people who were not credit worthy, because they received credit protection as a result. AIG made these collateralized debt obligations deals with a very small fraction of actual money on hand. Because most of the CDOs were attached to home mortgages, and AIG’s counterparties involved themselves in bad mortgage lending and did not have sufficient capital to cover loans, AIG was facing bankruptcy due to the fact that now it had to honor its contractual obligations towards these financial institutions all at once during the 2008 crisis. Even AIG could not predict the direction of the mortgage market despite having financial experts using...
Words: 702 - Pages: 3
...Goldman Sach vs. SEC By: Lemar Clayton The Goldman Sachs situation presents a leadership ethics dilemma. Is it okay for banks to bet against their customers to manage risk and hedge their bets? In fact, I’m willing to bet that opposing sides in the argument don’t even see this as a dilemma. “The senate subcommittee grilled Goldman executives for 11 hours because they clearly think that what Goldman did was morally wrong, if not illegal.” ("Sec charges goldman," 2010) Contrast that with Goldman’s shareholders, who probably think it’s unethical for Goldman’s executives not to hedge against a mortgage collapse. There is a middle position that says the hedging itself wasn’t wrong, it was how Goldman did it that was questionable. Goldman should have disclosed its short position and possibly even details about the origins of those CDOs to customers. Let me begin by explaining what is a CDO, Goldman takes a reference portfolio, or a bunch of bonds. A bond is a formal contract to repay borrowed money with interest at fixed intervals. Each set of bonds is senior to all the bonds below it, and they pay principle in order of their seniority. You can view it as a pyramid with different slices. The portfolio is giving a rating by Wall Street. Each slice has a different maturity and risk associated with it. The higher the risk, the more the CDO pays. Level E will take losses before D, and level C will take losses before B. It’s important to note the bonds don’t have...
Words: 2200 - Pages: 9
...Corporate governance refers to the set of systems, principles and processes by which a company is governed. They provide the guidelines as to how the company can be directed or controlled such that it can fulfil its goals and objectives in a manner that adds to the value of the company and is also beneficial for all stakeholders in the long term. Stakeholders in this case would include everyone ranging from the board of directors, management, shareholders to customers, employees and society. The management of the company hence assumes the role of a trustee for all the others. Corporate governance is based on principles such as conducting the business with all integrity and fairness, being transparent with regard to all transactions, making all the necessary disclosures and decisions, complying with all the laws of the land, accountability and responsibility towards the stakeholders and commitment to conducting business in an ethical manner. Another point which is highlighted in the SEBI report on corporate governance is the need for those in control to be able to distinguish between what are personal and corporate funds while managing a company. Fundamentally, there is a level of confidence that is associated with a company that is known to have good corporate governance. The presence of an active group of independent directors on the board contributes a great deal towards ensuring confidence in the market. Corporate governance is known to be one of the criteria that foreign...
Words: 3550 - Pages: 15
...chronicles the economic collapse of 2008 and the events which led up to it. The film is divided into five parts; 1) How We Got Here, 2) The Bubble, 3) The Crisis, 4) Accountability, and 5) Where We Are Now. The parts of the film come together to uncover the corruption of government, regulatory bodies, financial institutions and academia, which resulted in the biggest financial meltdown in the U.S. since the Depression and the first global recession in history. This paper will examine the film’s parts and analyze the moral, ethical, and regulatory lapses that were years in the making. Part 1: How We Got Here Until 1980, the financial industry was relatively stable. Investment banks had primarily been small private groups of individuals who invested their own money on riskier investments and as a result closely monitored their investments. In the 1980’s, investment banks went public, which meant they had access to the public’s money to invest in these riskier ventures—since it wasn’t their own money, there was not the same close monitoring. Deregulation allowed for the comingling of government, investment bankers, and lobbyists. In 1981 the CEO of Merrill Lynch was appointed Treasury Secretary by Ronald Regan. Deregulation allowed the financial industry to explode and for those in power to make more and more money. The powers of Wall Street were invading government with the intent to change policy to their benefit. Deregulation resulted in the S & L crisis and losses of $124...
Words: 1769 - Pages: 8
...Introduction GP Ocean Food Sdn Bhd, which was founded in 1980, is Malaysia’s first and biggest fully integrated seafood producer which includes activities encompass trawling, aquaculture of fish and prawns and seafood processing. It is also an investment holding company. This company advantageously located in the Federal Territory of Labuan, Malaysia in order to provide easy access to deliver the products. In addition, more than 70% of the sales are exported to US, EU countries, Japan and others. Scandle 1 Problem Malaysia, just like other developing countries, is unable to run away from the corporate scandals that have been emphasized by the media. After all the recommendation and efforts contributed by the various parties to eliminate these scandals, however it is still happening and there is no sign of stopping or reduction of the fraud in the future. Though GP Ocean Food Sdn Bhd is a well-known company, but the former company directors of seafood exporter have been acquitted of charges of submitting misleading information to the Securities Commission (SC) in 2006. Some even were charged with bribing case in order for their company to get listed in Bursa Malaysia. The company was highly involved with various allegations of corruption and irregularities. Besides, GP Ocean was scheduled to be listed in July 2006, but the company announced a rescheduling of that event in early June which was two weeks before its pamphlet was to be launched. After the approval...
Words: 1710 - Pages: 7
...AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP(AIG) COMPANY BACKGROUND AIG was started as a general insurance company by Cornelius Vanderr Starr in 1919 in Shanghai, China and begin a life insurance operation in 1921. AIG expand their business in mainland China by opening branches in Hong Kong, Vietnam and Philippines in 1925 and open the first office in New York in 1926. The organization spread their firm to Latin America in 1930-1939. During the world war 2, the business were suspended. Right after World War 2, they began in new market around the globe including Japan and Germany, soon after World War 2, they open American International Underwriters offices to provide insurance for the US military in 1946. In 1948 they continue to spread even more to France and Singapore. In 1950-1959, they invest in insurer Globe and Rutgers Insurance Group, expand the company’s domestic market presence. They expand to UK, Lebanon, South Korea and Australia. Worldwide personal accident and health division were established in 1961 and began to write Directors and Officers liability insurance coverage and becoming a leading provider in 1966. AIG were chosen to be incorporates in Delaware in 1967 and informed as the best insurance organization and began a new era as a public company in 1969. AIG enters Sweden, Egypt, Hungary, Poland and Romania in 1973-1978 and introduces new energy, transportation and entertainment products to serve the needs of the customer in 1979. In 1980, A pollution liability program...
Words: 2672 - Pages: 11
...An analysis of American International Group (AIG) indicates that it is a multinational insurance corporation that operates across the globe with around 88 million customers in its database. The company accounts for employing more than 64000 people across 90 countries. There are three major types of businesses that are currently operated by the company and these include AIG Property Casualty, AIG Life and Retirement and United Guarantee Corporation. These are the three important divisions that are noted in respect to AIG and they accounts for providing different insurance products and services to its customers. As for instance, AIG Property Casualty accounts for providing insurance products especially in respect to segments involving commercial, institutional and individual customers whereas AIG Life accounts for providing life insurance and retirement services to its customers. With regard to the UGC section, it focuses on providing mortgage guarantee insurance and mortgage insurance to its customers. Thus, the AIG Group as a whole accounts for providing insurance services of different categories to its larger customer database that is widely diversified, and its services are available throughout the globe. Following the financial crisis of 2008, the financial industry suffered backlash from the public following a historic and infamous series of events that threatened America’s economy. From media pundits to organized efforts such as the “Occupy: Wall Street” movement, there...
Words: 1423 - Pages: 6
...recession and seemingly insurmountable national deficits. The United States, where the crisis had its beginnings continues to suffer from the recession even if it is gradually recovering. The present problems in the Euro zone may be partly attributed to the recession of 2008. Because of these, many scholars, economic analysts, researchers and businessmen continue to endeavor up to now to discern what the real cause of the economic crisis was in the hopes that it will not happen again. Many people attribute the global economic meltdown to the collapse of the subprime sector in the United States. To put it simply, the mortgage sector was blamed for the crisis because of how many financial instruments were collateralized by mortgages of people who had bad credit histories. When too many of them failed to meet their obligations, it began a series of defaults that ultimately collapsed not only the mortgage industry but the financial industry as well. All those that have investments in both sectors, local and foreign entities, also became affected as they lost what they have invested. However, a crisis of such scale as that which took place in 2008 to 2009 could not be attributed to one cause alone. Instead, as this paper will show, the most recent global economic meltdown was due to several causes in different parts of the world. As the crisis was still engulfing different countries, governments, policymakers, banks and treasuries scrambled to seek the best...
Words: 3129 - Pages: 13
...framework for understanding the genesis of the crisis. December, 2008: IN ITS LEADER of October 13, 2008, the Financial Times characterized the western world’s banking system as suffering “the equivalent of a cardiac arrest.” The collapse of confidence in the system means that “it is now virtually impossible for any institution to finance itself in the markets longer than overnight.” This occurred less than a month after Lehman Brothers (LB) collapsed, without bailout. Six months earlier Bear Stearns (BS) had been bailed out after JP Morgan Chase (JPM Chase) had bought it for $10 a share, at the regulator’s urging. After LB fell, who would be next? And if LB, who was not at risk? Despite the earlier U.S. government bailouts of the erstwhile government mortgage originators (and still seen as government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs), the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the later bailout of the world’s largest insurer, American International Group (AIG), everything changed with the demise of LB. The FT was describing the freezing of the interbank credit market. After LB’s fall, so-called counterparty risk was seen as prohibitive to prospective lenders, at any price. This was revealed in the TED spread, the difference between the cost of interbank lending, the London Inter Bank Offered...
Words: 14558 - Pages: 59
...while a lack of supply will increase demand and price of a product to the advantage of the seller. Causes Economists stress the importance of tracing the root causes of the financial crisis in order to provide a systemic solution to the present financial crisis. Most references present the cause of the financial crisis to be the “subprime mortgages.” However, subprime mortgages by itself did not cause the housing bubble to implode; many other factors contributed to the implosion. Traditionally, a lending institution, such as bank, would grant a loan based on the capability of the borrower to pay and on his/her ability to guarantee the loan with a fixed asset or collateral. The borrower mortgages the fixed asset to the lending entity, who in turn gains the right to “foreclose” a mortgaged asset and to...
Words: 9783 - Pages: 40
...Wall Street, and in communities across America that led to the economic meltdown. While many analysts have placed the blame solely on Wall Street, Norberg exposes the crucial role government regulation played in creating the opportunities and incentives that led to the financial collapse. (Cox, 2009). In six concise chapters, the book tells the complex story of the crisis, showing how monetary policy, housing policy, and financial innovations combined to create financial catastrophe. The final two chapters describe the government’s mismanagement of the crisis and how we are now dangerously repeating many of the very same mistakes that caused it. An understanding of the roots of the financial crisis is crucial for every American who has felt its effects - and would like to prevent the same disaster from happening again. Financial Fiasco provides that understanding, with great insight, clarity, and wit. By reading this book a person is able to discover: - How Congress attempted to expand home ownership by passing mandates that distorted the housing market, including tax credits and heavily subsidized mortgages offered via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. - How, at the same time, the Federal Reserve made money cheaper to obtain by setting interest rates at the lowest level in half a century. "If you pump new money into the economy, it will always end up somewhere or other. This time it went into real estate". (Green, 2010). - How the Fed's artificially...
Words: 1418 - Pages: 6
...domestic economy. As we look forward toward corrective action though the Dodd-Frank Act, Sarbanes-Oxley Act or the Global Legal Settlement of 2002 which reduced the conflict of interest as did the Sarbanes-Oakley Act. These conflicts encompass “underwriting and research in investment banks, auditing and consulting in accounting firms and credit assessment and consulting in credit rating agencies.” (Sanati, 2009) So while we have had a slow and diosmose recovery from this crisis, I will try to answer some of the questions presented to us today on our ability to fully recover and instill some preventative measures to ensure a worst and more devastating financial crisis from taking hold of our economic system. Keywords: Glass-Steagall Act, Bailout, Dodd-Frank Act The Federal Reserve System & Financial Crisis The key factor that protected the banking customers in the United States was repealed in 1988 by than President Bill Clinton; the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 had placed a firewall between the Commercial banks and the Investment banks. The...
Words: 5914 - Pages: 24
...Section 13 (3) of the Federal Reserve Act gives the Fed the authority to bail out banks who are in trouble. The act itself states: “Section 13-3 of the Federal Reserve Act provided that ‘In unusual and exigent circumstances’ the Fed could lend to any institution, as long as the loan was ‘secured to the satisfaction of the Federal Reserve Bank” (NY Times case). The act basically allows the Fed to help failing banks only if the bank is solvent and has adequate collateral to lend against. This act is a major aspect of the financial crisis of 2008 and particularly whether or not the New York Fed could rescue Lehman Brothers. The act was evaluated during the weekend in September 2008 when the regional Federal Reserve Bank, the New York Fed, was...
Words: 1399 - Pages: 6
...The 1907 Panic and the ensuing response led by J. Pierpont Morgan made one thing clear: it was necessary to move beyond personality cults of individuals to tackle future financial crisis. Different plans to create an independent organization representing diverse financial institutions started to gain traction but the debate over the inherent subjugation of public interest in this arrangement raged on as well. Woodrow Wilson, as the winner of 1912 presidential elections, eventually started to shape the conversation towards a formal conclusion and proposed a combination of private and public representation in a central bank. The subsequent passage of the Federal Reserve Act created an institution that balanced centralized control enshrined in the government controlled Federal Reserve Board in Washington, D.C. by establishing twelve privately controlled regional banks catering to the specific needs of twelve geographical regions of the country. Traditionally, the New York Fed has held a prestigious, and somewhat dominating, position among regional banks because of its hegemony over implementing the monetary policy of the Federal Reserve Bank and the fact that most of the financial powerhouses have concentrated operations in New York. Its organizational structure is composed of nine members (three bankers, three non-bankers chosen by the local banks and three members chosen by the Federal Reserve Board of Governors to represent the public); other regional reserve banks have the same...
Words: 2037 - Pages: 9
