New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that 15 employees who received some of the largest bonuses from American International Group Inc (AIG) have agreed to return the more than US$30 million in payments in full.
In total, AIG employees have agreed to return about US$50 million of the US$165 million in bonuses awarded earlier this month by the troubled insurer, Cuomo’s office said.
Cuomo said he still hopes that more AIG employees will return their bonuses. At most, Cuomo said his office could hope to recoup US$80 million of the bonuses — roughly the amount paid out to US employees.
PHOTO: AFP
“I applaud the employees who are returning the bonuses,” Cuomo said during a conference call with reporters. “I think they are being responsive to the American people.”
Cuomo said nine of the 10 people receiving the largest awards have agreed to return their bonus. Additionally, 15 of the top 20 bonus recipients have consented to returning their money. Cuomo said some have refused to return the money, while others are still considering it.
“We are deeply gratified that a vast majority of Financial Products’ senior leadership have expressed a willingness to forsake their recent retention payments,” spokeswoman Christina Pretto wrote in an e-mailed statement. She said the company was continuing to review the responses of the other employees.
AIG has come under heavy criticism because the bonuses were given to employees after the company received US$170 billion in government bailout money. AIG chief executive Edward Liddy told Congress last week that some of the employees were willing to give the money back.
But Liddy has expressed concern that the company may not be able to attract and retain talented employees if they believe their compensation is subject to adjustment by the Treasury.
Pretto said on Monday that a “handful” of senior-level executives have resigned from the financial products division and that there would likely be more resignations to come.
“We do believe that at this point it’s all manageable,” she said.
Cuomo said he didn’t plan to release the names of the employees who agreed to return the bonuses and said there was no implied threat that if an employee did not return the bonus that their name would be released. Cuomo had sought the names of the employees who received bonuses from Liddy through a subpoena.
He said his office is continuing to assess the security of the employees.
About 400 employees and future employees in AIG’s financial products division received bonuses. Documents provided by AIG to the Treasury Department said the awards ranged from US$1,000 to nearly US$6.5 million. Seven employees were to receive more than US$3 million.
Last week Cuomo said AIG paid bonuses of US$1 million or more to 73 employees, including 11 who no longer work there.
Separately, Connecticut’s consumer protection division has subpoenaed AIG, demanding that the contracts and names of employees who received the bonuses be provided by March 27. Governor M. Jodi Rell has said she wants the division to determine whether the bonuses can be voided under the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act.
The headquarters of AIG’s financial products division is located in Wilton, Connecticut.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said his office also demanded the bonus recipients’ names and the amounts.
COMBINING FORCES: The 66th Marine Brigade would support the 202nd Military Police Command in its defense of Taipei against ‘decapitation strikes,’ a source said The Marine Corps has deployed more than 100 soldiers and officers of the 66th Marine Brigade to Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) as part of an effort to bolster defenses around the capital, a source with knowledge of the matter said yesterday. Two weeks ago, a military source said that the Ministry of National Defense ordered the Marine Corps to increase soldier deployments in the Taipei area. The 66th Marine Brigade has been tasked with protecting key areas in Taipei, with the 202nd Military Police Command also continuing to defend the capital. That came after a 2017 decision by the ministry to station
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for