AIG calls in armed guards as backlash over bonuses intensifies

AIG calls in armed guards as backlash over bonuses intensifies




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It has been reported that armed guards have been posted outside the Connecticut offices of AIG Financial Products, a division of bailed-out insurance company AIG, following an influx of death threats from angry Americans over the $165 million (£118 million) in bonuses being paid out to executives there. 

The row over bonuses would seem to be a global issue at present, with the US Government debating whether to introduce taxes to claw back the huge sums paid to staff at the division that almost caused the company to fold.

 

Public anger has reached boiling point as it emerged that 11 out of the 73 AIG workers, who were each given at least $1 million, have already left the company. One former employee received a bonus of $4.6 million.

 

Various AIG workers have resigned, or refused to turn up to work, as the fallout grows and public reactions turn violent.

 

Democratic senators have promised to pass swift legislation to deal with recovering the money, with Democrats in the House of Representatives presenting a bill to tax at 100% bonuses of more than $100,000 given by companies bailed out with taxpayer money.

 

AIG have stated that they are powerless to change the bonuses written into employee contracts and that the money was in fact part of a $450 million compensation pool, set aside early last year before taxpayer assistance was sought.

 

New York’s attorney-general, Andrew Cuomo, who issued a subpoena in order to discover whether AIG had given bonuses out, has said: “AIG made more than 73 millionaires in the unit, which lost so much money that it brought the firm to its knees, forcing a taxpayer bailout. Something is deeply wrong with this outcome. I hope the committee will address it head on.”   

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