The audit looked at seven of the biggest TARP recipients — Citigroup, Bank of America, AIG, General Motors, Ally, Chrysler, and Chrysler Financial.
Two of those, Citigroup and Bank of America, paid back their government loans before the end of 2009, so they would be free to pay their execs whatever they wanted.
Of the remaining companies, AIG repeatedly insisted on the biggest pay packages and represented 80% of Feinberg’s “headaches,” the audit said.
The company received more than $180 billion in federal bailout money in 2008, and even today, after paying back billions, it is still 70% owned by the federal government.
But at the recession’s height in spring 2009, AIG had the audacity to press Feinberg for raises ranging from 20% to 550% for its top employees, the report said.
Backed by top Treasury aides, AIG argued that unless it got those raises, key people would leave and the government would not get its money back.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/treasury-department-approves-huge-paydays-execs-firms-received-tarp-bailout-money-article-1.1012665#ixzz1kz9sgV00