I am mindful of the outrage of the American public and of the president's call for a more restrained compensation system. I am also mindful that every decision we make at AIG has consequences for the American taxpayer. We weigh decisions with one priority in mind: Will this action help or hurt our ability to pay money back to the government?To paraphrase the Joker in The Dark Knight:Although we have wound down more than $1 trillion in the portfolio of the AIG Financial Products unit that is at the root of the company's troubles, there remains substantial risk in that portfolio. The financial downside for taxpayers is potentially very large, and that's why we're winding down this business.
To prevent undue risk exposure in the meantime, AIG has made a set of retention payments to employees based on a compensation system that prior management put in place. As has been reported, payments were made to employees in the Financial Products unit. Make no mistake, had I been chief executive at the time, I would never have approved the retention contracts that were put in place more than a year ago. It was distasteful to have to make these payments. But we concluded that the risks to the company, and therefore the financial system and the economy, were unacceptably high.
"Tonight you're all gonna be part of a social experiment. Through the magic of derivatives and counterparties, I'm ready right now to blow you all sky high. Anyone attempts to recoup our bonuses, you all die. Each of you has legislation... to blow up the other political party. At midnight, I blow you all up. If, however, one of you presses the button, I'll let that political party live. So, who's it going to be: Barack Obama's most wanted Wall Street scumbag collection, or the sweet and innocent taxpayers? You choose... oh, and you might want to decide quickly, because the people on the other political party might not be so noble."
With all due respect to Heath Ledger.
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