Editor's Note: AIG has 30 million US policy holders, operates in 130 countries and provides insurance to 100,000 companies "and other entities", according to the BBC. AIG had already received $150 billion from public coffers and now reports a $62 billion loss in the last quarter of 2008 ... that's $460,000 a minute for last 90 days of 2008. All the share value of AIG, Citi, Bank of America have evaporated and the only thing left open is to keep pumping money into them. They cannot punish the shareholders anymore since their stock has perhaps 2% of its value remaining. We remember last November when Warren Buffet was saying "BUY!" now he's saying that the world economy will be in chaos for 2009.

AIG will now be getting another $30 billion which will be "throwing more good money after bad". 180 billion taxpayer dollars down the toilet. It's becoming more and more clear: This "bailout" money is not a cure for a temporary illness. The patient is on life support in a hospice, postponing the inevitable cardiac arrest. Meanwhile, on Friday, the Dow came close to breaking the 7,000 mark at 7,063 and S&P 500 lost 2.7 percent ending the week 735 according to CNN. In the midst of all this, the common worker/taxpayer is rendered helpless in the midst of the ruling class-grab. The only options left for the working class are to "take the streets" or to be tooled and ruled by those who are concentrating wealth and grabbing the power.
Fight the power!

- Les Blough, Editor

AIG reports record $61.7bn loss

AIG has received the biggest US bail-out package

March 2, 2009, BBC - Insurance giant AIG has reported a loss of $61.7bn (£43bn) in the final three months of 2008 - the largest quarterly loss in corporate history.

And the firm will receive an extra $30bn from the US government as part of a revamped rescue package.

AIG has already received $150bn in financial support - the biggest bail-out by far of any US company.

Stock markets slid sharply as AIG's plight underscored fears about the health of the global financial system.

The Federal Reserve and the Treasury said that AIG posed a "system risk" to the global financial system.

"The potential cost to the economy and the taxpayer of government inaction would be extremely high," they said.

"The additional resources will help stabilise the company, and in doing so help to stabilise the financial system."

As well as insuring households, AIG plays a key role in insuring risk for financial institutions around the world.

The news of AIG's historic loss comes as HSBC, Europe's biggest bank, seeks to raise £12.5bn ($17.7bn) to strengthen its finances following a 62% fall in annual profit.

CORPORATE BAIL-OUTS RECEIVED ... AIG - $180bn Bank of America - $45bn Citigroup - $50bn JP Morgan Chase - $25bn Wells Fargo - $25bn Goldman Sachs - $10bn Morgan Stanley - $10bn State Street - $3bn Bank of NY Mellon - $3bn

Revamp

The revamped rescue package also involves a restructuring of AIG's operations.

It calls for the Federal Reserve to take stakes in two of AIG's international units in exchange for reducing AIG's debt.

The new measures will also effectively cut the interest payments the insurer must pay to the Federal Reserve.

The AIG financial support is about three times greater than that given to Citigroup, which has received $50bn, and Bank of America, which has received $45bn.

Fear of failure

US officials fear that a failure of AIG would be disastrous for both the US and the global economy.

Credit rating agencies, such as Moody's, Fitch and Standard & Poor's, had been poised to cut AIG's credit ratings as a result of the record loss.

That could have forced AIG to default on its debt, which would have had a knock-on effect on all of AIG's businesses.

AIG provides insurance protection to individuals, small firms, municipalities, personal pension plans and major US listed companies.

It also insures major financial institutions against complex deals going wrong through derivative contracts such as credit default swaps - the main cause of its problems.

The company first received financial assistance from the state in September in the wake of Lehman Brother's collapse.

In the UK, AIG is best known as a sponsor of Manchester United, but the deal is due to come to an end.

It also underwrites insurance sold by a number of High Street names including Boots and Argos.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7918643.stm