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AIG should fire CEO over junket mess (update)

Jonathan Berr — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:48:00 EST

Filed under: Employees, Amer Intl Group (AIG), Financial Crisis

Another day, another American International Group Inc. (NYSE: AIG) junket caught on video. Chief Executive Edward Liddy has promised members of Congress that it would not happen again. But since Liddy's credibility has been destroyed on Capitol Hill, AIG has no choice but to replace him.

AIG is going to get an avalanche of bad publicity over the $343,000 meeting it held at a posh resort near Phoenix. After getting burned by revelations over past junkets, AIG decided to cover its tracks by removing all mention of AIG from the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort, according to ABC News.

In a memo issued in response to the story, Liddy argued the meeting was justified under the policies AIG adopted after the complaints about its last fancy meeting was exposed. He also pointed out that the costs of the Arizona meeting for financial planners was minimal. "It is essential for AIG to conduct seminars of this kind to keep independent financial planners abreast of investment products and services including those offered by AIG," he said. "The financial planners are responsible for generating almost $200 million in revenue this year for AIG as of September 30th."

This certainly does not sound like the behavior of a company that got a second bailout deal just Monday to the tune of $150 billion because the original $85 billion was too low. What about a company that had to freeze $600 million in payments to former executives? You would think that a company in such dire circumstances would be holding its gatherings at the local Holiday Inn instead of the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak.

The resort, judging from its Web site, is gorgeous. It brags about "nine acres of water fun, including a half-mile lazy river for tubing and a 130-foot slide known as Slippery Rock Slide. A beautiful lagoon pool with a 10-foot waterfall offers a relaxing ambiance while a sports pool entertains the more active."

Though this sure sounds like fun, I don't doubt that members of Congress will be mad. In fact, I bet that Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif) is probably preparing a letter to AIG's senior management as we speak. The management of companies need to learn that in politics, perception is reality. Companies such as AIG better get used to having their moves second-guessed and third-guessed.

Given the company's new realities, perhaps AIG might want to look into webinars.

AIG should fire CEO over junket mess (update) originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wall Street's meltdown: In search of a villain

Bruce Watson — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:20:00 EST

Filed under: Goldman Sachs Group (GS), Amer Intl Group (AIG), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH)

It's only been a few weeks since Henry Paulson begged Congress for $700 billion to bail out Wall Street, but Americans already seem to be coming to terms with the mountain of cash that they have had to lay out. Then again, one can only maintain self-righteous anger for so long and, with the onset of winter, finding ways to pay for heating and Christmas trumps the desire to set fire to the local bank. Still, as today's outrage becomes tomorrow's history, it is vital that America find a way to package this episode.

The first struggle has been to come up with a name for the Wall Street meltdown (I still like "Bernanke Panky"). However, as that plays out, it's time to begin finding a villain to blame. This is tremendously important stuff. For history to be written, complex events must be boiled down to a single cause, preferably an individual who can take responsibility for everything. For example, as every schoolchild knows, LBJ caused Vietnam, Hoover caused the Great Depression, and Nixon caused Watergate. Never mind that these men were the products of their ages or that history is a complex process. Children need villains, history demands explanations, and Americans crave resolution. Never mind that millions of homeowners signed up for mortgages that they couldn't pay, that millions of investors blindly purchased worthless securities, and that the groundwork for this disaster was laid by Democrats and Republicans demonstrating an impressive, albeit bipartisan, ignorance. History must be written and blame must be laid. Chances are, it will end up falling on one of the following people:

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Wall Street's meltdown: In search of a villain originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Lehman screws workers out of severance payments

Jonathan Berr — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:25:00 EST

Filed under: Management, Employees, Scandals, Barclays plc ADS (BCS), Lehman Br Holdings (LEH), Financial Crisis

Much as I find it hard to muster sympathy for thousands of overpaid investment bankers forced to walk to the unemployment office in their designer shoes, the news that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. (NYSE: LEMQ) won't be paying them severance made me feel a little sorry for them.

According to Bloomberg News, the New York-based firm recently notified employees that they will not receive a payment on October 3 or after. The company reneged on a promise to the fired workers to pay them severance until August 2009. Workers who want the rest of their compensation will have to file a claim with the bankruptcy court. It will take years for the former employees to get paid through Chapter 11 and even then they might only get a fraction of what they are owed.

Bloomberg reports that it is not clear how many former Lehman employees have been affected. You can bet that members of Congress and the Department of Justice will be interested to know if Chief Executive Richard Fuld will receive a golden parachute once Barclay's PLC (NYSE: BCS) completes its takeover of the once-storied New York investment bank.

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Lehman screws workers out of severance payments originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 07 Oct 2008 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Grandstanding aplenty at congressional hearing on executive pay

Jonathan Berr — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:10:00 EST

Filed under: From the Boards, Citigroup Inc. (C), Merrill Lynch (MER), Countrywide Financial (CFC), Politics

Pity the hapless ex-CEO who has to explain to the U.S. Congress how he got millions for failing at his job. It's like the person in the horror movie who doesn't realize that a bad guy is lurking in the dark woods even though that's clearly indicated by the scary music. In this case, the knife-wielding psycho Jason Voorhees is being played by Rep. Henry "I haven't met a microphone I didn't like" Waxman (D-CA).

What did former Countywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo, former Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) CEO Charles Prince and former Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) head Stan O'Neal expect to happen? That they would finally be able to tell their "side" of the story? That they would be able to counteract media perceptions that they are a bunch of greedy pigs who were rewarded for their incompetence? Apparently, these once mighty kings of the boardroom were that deluded.

Mozilo was the most outrageous, telling the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that, "In short, as our company did well, I did well." The Wall Street Journal (subscription required) noted that Waxman, who locked horns recently with baseball great Roger Clemens, wasn't buying it.

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Grandstanding aplenty at congressional hearing on executive pay originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 08 Mar 2008 11:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Congress takes on executive pay; O'Neal, Prince, Mozilo to testify

Jonathan Berr — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Citigroup Inc. (C), Merrill Lynch (MER), Countrywide Financial (CFC), Housing, Recession

Former Merrill Lynch & Co. (NYSE: MER) Chief Executive Stan O'Neal, former Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) CEO Chuck Prince and former Countrywide Financial Corp. (NYSE: CFC) Angelo Moziilo are due to testify before the U.S. Congress next week about executive pay. No, ladies and gentlemen, I am not making this up.

The poster children of outrageous executive compensation will appear Thursday before the House Committee on Oversight and Reform, which recently delved into the touchy issue of whether Roger Clemens had performance-enhancing drugs injected into his rear end. The three should have plenty to talk about as CNN/Money.com notes.

Upon his departure from Citigroup in November, Prince left with approximately $68 million, while O'Neal collected about $161 million after he stepped down in October.

Countrywide's Mozilo reportedly stood to collect a windfall of $115 million dollars after his firm agreed in January to a yet-to-be completed $4 billion sale to Bank of America. But after facing heavy criticism from lawmakers, Mozilo said he would forfeit $37.5 million in payments tied to the deal.

This should be a doozy. Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA), who has taken on numerous special interest groups including Big Tobacco, will have his hands full as his committee examines the link between executive pay and the mortgage crisis. He better have an extra-large gavel handy because these witnesses didn't think they were accountable to shareholders and sure don't think they need to explain themselves to a bunch of politicians.

Congress takes on executive pay; O'Neal, Prince, Mozilo to testify originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 22 Feb 2008 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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