Posted on 06/15/2015 11:23:35 AM PDT by Theoria
A court ruled Monday that the federal government was “unduly harsh” in its takeover of AIG during the financial crisis, but refused to award the company’s former head any damages.
The ruling draws to a close the high-profile lawsuit against the federal government, brought by Maurice "Hank" Greenberg, the former head of the insurance giant, and other AIG shareholders under the umbrella of Starr International.
In his ruling, Judge Thomas Wheeler determined the federal government violated the Constitution by stepping in and effectively seizing the insurance company during the crisis, even if the takeover was intended to save the company from imminent bankruptcy.
However, since AIG would have ceased to exist almost immediately had the government not stepped in, the judge also determined that Greenberg and the shareholders were not due the billions of dollars in damages sought.
In his U.S . Court of Federal Claims opinion, Wheeler found merit in the argument that the Federal Reserve overstepped its bounds in providing AIG with a critical cash infusion at the height of the crisis, but also taking over the company and ousting its leadership. Wheeler said the government’s bailout of the insurance firm, which came immediately following the collapse of Lehman Brothers, was “misguided and had no legitimate purpose.”
“What is clear from the evidence is that the Government carefully orchestrated its takeover of AIG in a way that would avoid any shareholder vote, and maximize the benefits to the government and to the taxpaying public, eventually resulting in a profit of $22.7 billion to the U.S. Treasury,” Wheeler wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
22.7 billion ...
stolen to pay for less than 6 days of USG spending.
They should have allowed AIG to die, along with GM and all the TARP banks. There is no excuse for “too big to fail” policies (another area where small government conservatives can appeal to some of those on the left).
And GM and Chrysler....
Theft and transfer of wealth.
Just let ‘em go BK!
And WHAT will be done about it???
Illegal, but no remedy? What kind of ruling is this?
So the constitution was violated .... and who is going to jail?
**crickets
Pretty much.
I believe the court ruled that entitlement was established (Feds acted unconstitutionally) but there was no financial damage to the shareholders, so no monetary recovery is merited.
Jeremy Clarkson of the Top Gear tv show said his financial adviser told him to put his money in AIG. Solid investment. He lost most of his money that he put in when the crash happened. He was told he would get pennies on the dollar if he settled or if he kept his investment that he would get his money back... eventually. I wonder how much he lost
Article excerpt: Mr Clarkson vented his fury about the situation. “I made strenuous efforts to get my money out of AIG as soon as the scale of its problems became apparent. But it wasn’t possible. Inwardly I was screaming. It’s my money. I gave it to you. You’ve squandered it on a Mexican’s house in San Diego and a stupid football team and that’s your problem. Not mine.”
The past 5 years shows the stock went up but not as high as it was. View max.
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=AIG+Interactive#{%22range%22:%22max%22,%22allowChartStacking%22:true}
...and why isn’t Greenberg in jail. That’s right, THIS PRESIDENT chose to not prosecute bankers.
Because for the Democrats: Bankers are where the money is.
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