Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
Voice of America is funded by the US Federal Government and content it
exclusively produces is in the public domain.
March 18, 2009

AIG Chief Says He 'Shares' Public Anger About Large Employee Bonuses
--------------------------------------------------------------------

http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=22F02DE:A6F02AD83191E160A6B2E84CCB6CDC73F47489ACC27D21EE&
 
CEO Edward Liddy says AIG had to pay bonuses to honor its contracts with
employees and prevent them from quitting 
CEO of AIG Edward Liddy (2008 photo)The top executive of American
International Group says he shares public anger about the troubled
insurance company's large bonuses to employees. AIG chief executive
Edward Liddy made the comment Wednesday in remarks prepared for delivery
to a U.S. House of Representatives committee. He is expected to face
tough questioning from lawmakers angered by AIG's decision to hand out
$165 million in bonuses to executives while receiving federal bailout
money. In his prepared remarks, Liddy says AIG made mistakes on a scale
few people could have imagined possible. But he also says AIG had to pay
the bonuses to honor its contracts with employees and prevent them from
quitting. The AIG chief has said he has a plan to return money to the
U.S. government. AIG handed out the bonuses to employees of its
financial products unit, which made bad bets on risky mortgages and
other assets that left the company near collapse. Liddy says he found it
"distasteful" to!
  pay out the bonuses. He says he would not have authorized them had he
been chief executive at the time they were negotiated more than a year
ago. A man enters an AIG office building New York, 16 March 2009U.S.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said AIG must compensate
taxpayers for the employee bonuses as a condition for receiving a
further $30 billion in government funds. AIG has taken $170 billion in
federal bailout money since the U.S. financial crisis erupted late last
year. Some lawmakers also have expressed anger about revelations that
AIG used the bailout money to pay back European banks that invested in
the company's risky practices. Opposition Republicans have criticized
Geithner for not acting more quickly to block the bonus payments,
leading to speculation that President Barack Obama may replace him. But
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters Tuesday Mr. Obama
continues to have full confidence in Geithner.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


.