The government's top bailout watchdog accused the Treasury Department on Monday of failing to rein in "excessive" compensation at AIG, General Motors and Ally Financial. Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or SIGTARP, says that the firms don't understand "their extraordinary situations."
The government's Great Recession bailouts are one of the hot topics of debate this election. But let's skip the rhetoric and run the numbers. If you think you know the facts about the bailouts, or if you're just curious, take a peek at our bailout quiz.
AIG is offering $15.7 billion for a heap of toxic mortgage bonds that the Federal Reserve Bank of New York took off its hands at the peak of the financial crisis in 2008. The move is intended to reduce the amount of government money that AIG, the recipient of the largest federal bailout during the financial crisis, holds.
Approximately 60% of first-year U.S. senators and 40% of House of Representatives freshmen are worth at least $1 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. That makes them far richer than most of the Americans they represent: Just 1% of the country's population has reached the $1 million mark.
The number of federally insured banks at risk of failing rose to 884 -- nearly 12% -- in the last quarter of 2010, reaching the highest level in 18 years.
Just a day after a successful bond auction in Portugal, Spain hopes to raise up to $3.9 billion in its first debt auction of the year. The auction will be a key test of investor appetite for European bonds.
In a second attempt to sell its 97.6% stake in Nan Shan Life Insurance, a Taiwanese insurer, American International Group has agreed to a $2.16 billion deal with the Ruen Chen consortium. But regulators nixed another sale agreement just five months ago. Will this deal go through?
The number of government-aided U.S. banks in danger of failing has grown about 15% in the past six months, The Wall Street Journal has reported. The economy has continued to batter many struggling institutions, with 98 bailed-out banks -- up from 86 in the second quarter -- now at risk.
Though most Americans wish that Congress would rein in excessive pay on Wall Street, that won't happen while the huge campaign contributions keep flowing. And the financial industry's big money shell game drains away something more precious from our society than money -- it siphons off talent.
Insurance giant American International Group on Wednesday signed an agreement with the government that details its plan to repay its government loans. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that the government plans to sell much of AIG's stock in the next few months.
The Citigroup bailout is officially over: The U.S. Treasury has sold the last of its shares of the bank. Overall, the U.S. government netted $12 billion in profit from the $45 billion bailout.
The U.S. Treasury Department is offering up its remaining Citigroup shares, a move that marks the end of one of the federal government's largest bank bailouts. But the Treasury says it will hold out for an "acceptable price" for the 2.4 billion shares.
The central bank says the disclosures cover more than 21,000 individual transactions done to "restore the flow of credit to American families and businesses, and support economic recovery and job creation in the aftermath of the crisis." It also says no money has been lost so far.
Bailed-out insurance giant American International Group sold $2 billion of bonds in its first debt offering since it was rescued in 2008. The offering was an important test of whether investors think the insurer can stand on its own.
General Motors's IPO later this month is expected to raise about $10 billion -- of between $26 and $29 per share -- and to reduce the U.S. government's stake of the company to a minority portion, the Associated Press reports.