I always thought it was a good idea to hear both sides of a story before casting judgment on a situation. However, when it came to the recent AIG bonus news it was hard to step back and see both sides of the story.
This morning an AIG employee’s resignation letter was published in the NY Times. I think it shed some light on the situation and may have changed some people’s minds about the scandal. Here are some good excerpts from the letter…
“I am proud of everything I have done for the commodity and equity divisions of A.I.G.-F.P. I was in no way involved in — or responsible for — the credit default swap transactions that have hamstrung A.I.G. Nor were more than a handful of the 400 current employees of A.I.G.-F.P. Most of those responsible have left the company and have conspicuously escaped the public outrage.”
“I started at this company in 1998 as an equity trader, became the head of equity and commodity trading and, a couple of years before A.I.G.’s meltdown last September, was named the head of business development for commodities. Over this period the equity and commodity units were consistently profitable — in most years generating net profits of well over $100 million. Most recently, during the dismantling of A.I.G.-F.P., I was an integral player in the pending sale of its well-regarded commodity index business to UBS. As you know, business unit sales like this are crucial to A.I.G.’s effort to repay the American taxpayer.”
“The only real motivation that anyone at A.I.G.-F.P. now has is fear. Mr. Cuomo has threatened to “name and shame,” and his counterpart in Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, has made similar threats — even though attorneys general are supposed to stand for due process, to conduct trials in courts and not the press.”
You can read the rest of the letter here. Does it change your opinion on the situation at all?
[...] Excerpt from: The Other Side Of The A.I.G. Story [...]
Not one bit. It’s unfortunate that his honest dealings in commodities were tainted by the other stuff that was going on, but I’m sure somebody as bright and talented as he is, if he’s truly untainted by this scandal, can find good employment elsewhere. After all, that’s what the rest of us have to do…we get laid off, we either try to find work elsewhere or re-educate ourselves to do something else.
I don’t agree with the AG’s “naming names”, which he didn’t do in the end, as that violates privacy and puts peoples’ lives at risk. But you know what? This guy did very well for himself for many years and it’s not like he’s the only one who has to pay for somebody else’s management decisions…just ask the guys at Circuit City or any other place that went under.
Cuomo and Blumenthal are no better than the U.S. Senators and Representatives with their faux outrage over the AIG bonuses. You can be sure that the politicans who are so shocked at the level of bonus pay weren’t shocked when they were taking campaign contributions from these guys and having their photos taken with them at $1000 a plate fundraising dinners.