A.G. Cuomo (N.Y.): Was AIG Re-Capitalizing Banks All Over The World?

Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo of New York said Thursday afternoon that he was widening his investigation of the American International Group to examine whether its trading counterparties improperly received billions of dollars in government money from the troubled insurer. 

Those counterparties include Goldman Sachs, which received $12.9 billion, as well as Société Générale of France and Deutsche Bank of Germany, which each received nearly $12 billion. 

Why is the AG of New York Doing the Investigating Geithner and Holder Should be Doing of the Wall Street Crooks? 

“Our investigation into corporate bonuses has led us to an investigation of the credit default swap contracts at A.I.G.,” Mr. Cuomo said in a statement. “CDS contracts were at the heart of A.I.G.’s meltdown. The question is whether the contracts are being wound down properly and efficiently or whether they have become a vehicle for funneling billions in taxpayers dollars to capitalize banks all over the world.” The Obama Administration Would Want to Know, Don't You Think?

The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

The Paulson Plan: Really Benefits....

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Guess who the Paulson plan benefits?

Bank of America's (BAC) top credit strategy analyst says Paulson Debt Plan May Benefit Mostly Goldman, Morgan.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley may be among the biggest beneficiaries of the $700 billion U.S. plan to buy assets from financial companies while many banks see limited aid, according to Bank of America Corp.

"Its benefits, in its current form, will be largely limited to investment banks and other banks that have aggressively written down the value of their holdings and have already recognized the attendant capital impairment," Jeffrey Rosenberg, Bank of America's head of credit strategy research, wrote in a report dated yesterday, without identifying particular banks.

Many banks may not participate in the Troubled Asset Relief Program because they haven't had to write down as much assets under accounting rules, meaning decisions to sell into the program would cause them to lose capital, Rosenberg wrote. Investment banks operate "under a mark-to-market accounting model while commercial banks hold assets at cost until realizing a loss (or until they reasonably expect one)," he wrote.

Even without sales by commercial banks and savings-and-loans under the program, the companies may be harmed as the disclosure of prices paid in the troubled-debt auctions force them to ``hasten the pace'' of their own losses, Rosenberg wrote in his report. Banks and insurers mark down certain securities and derivatives to market prices in their earnings reports, avoiding losses on others unless they deem the declines to not be temporary and provisioning against loans as they go bad.

Bank lobbying groups today asked Congress and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to suspend a rule that forces companies to put a price on difficult-to-value assets such as subprime mortgages.

Here is a translation of that last paragraph: Banks are unhappy with the size of their bailout (of which they deserve zero), simply because Goldman and Morgan are getting a bigger bailout (of which they equally deserve zero).

Is it any wonder Paulson wanted his bill ramrodded through without debate?

1.8 Trillion dollar bailouts just do not go far enough these days. Everyone wants more.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Letters threaten Goldman Sachs

PEORIA - The Journal Star has been added to the list of newspapers mailed threatening handwritten letters this week targeting a major New York-based investment firm.

"Goldman Sachs. Hundreds will die. We are inside. You cannot stop us," the letter reads.

It was signed "A.Q.U.S.A."

"We take any threat to the safety of our people very seriously," Goldman Sachs spokesman Michael DuVally said Friday. "We are working closely with the law enforcement authorities, who tell us they don't believe the threat to be very credible."

A federal law enforcement official familiar with the investigation told The Associated Press that the FBI "does not assign high credibility to the threat" because of the circumstances surrounding the letters, including their brevity and the nonspecific nature of the threat. The investigator spoke on condition of anonymity.

Goldman Sachs, one of the world's top investment firms, has offices in 46 cities around the globe, including London, Frankfurt, Tokyo and Hong Kong, and employs about 28,000 people worldwide. The firm did not receive any of the threatening letters.

"We have a broad range of security measures in place to counter all likely threats and we're monitoring the situation clearly," DuVally said.

The letter, opened at the Journal Star on Friday morning, was written in red ink on loose-leaf paper. It was mailed in a plain white envelope postmarked June 27 from Queens, New York.

Addressed to the News Department, the letter was immediately turned over to the FBI.

"The Peoria Journal Star is cooperating completely with the FBI and anyone else involved in the investigation," said Journal Star publisher Ken Mauser.

The Journal Star is one of at least 20 newspapers across the country that received such letters, which appear identical. Those publications are located in Indiana, Texas, New Jersey, Idaho, Ohio, Vermont, North Dakota and Tennessee.

"There seems to be no pattern regarding which newspapers are being selected to receive the letters," said Marshall Stone, FBI spokesman for the Springfield division. "We're aware of several newspapers receiving letters containing non-specific threats, and we're working with other agencies, including the U.S. postal inspectors, to determine who is sending the letters."

The Journal Star hired investment bankers from Goldman Sachs in 1996 to broker a sale with The Copley Press Inc. when the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) faced financial trouble. It's unknown if that is the reason the newspaper was mailed the letter.

No threats have been made against the Journal Star or the other publications involved, according to the FBI.

"From the local standpoint, I have not heard of any other threats of this nature in central Illinois," Stone said.

Leslie Fark can be reached at 686-3188 or lfark@pjstar.com.

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)

The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.