Cuomo Uses Office as ‘Bully Pulpit,’ Gets AIG Bonus Recipients to Return Cash
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said yesterday that he has persuaded 15 of the top 20 bonus recipients at AIG to return the money, and it may be possible to recoup some $80 million in all.
Cuomo told reporters that out of the top 10 employees who received bonuses, nine agreed to give them back, according to the New York Times and Bloomberg. Already, employees have agreed to return $50 million of the $165 million in retention bonuses paid, he said.
The top AIG bonus went to lawyer Douglas Poling, general counsel of the insurer’s troubled financial products unit. He reportedly has agreed to give back his $6.4 million bonus. Cuomo said he will not release the names of anyone who returns a bonus.
Cuomo had issued subpoenas to obtain the names of the AIG bonus recipients. He said some $85 million in bonuses went to employees outside the United States and he did not believe his office had the standing to pursue them, according to the Times.
The bonuses were paid as AIG received a government bailout of $182.5 billion.
A New York Times profile of Cuomo said he uses his office as a “bully pulpit,” focusing “on the cozy dealings and poor regulation of Wall Street.”
“Mr. Cuomo, a double-espresso of a politician and an oh-so-careful guardian of his own media image, now has found his moment like few politicians in the United States,” the story says. “For months he has given voice to disgust with the abuses and self-regard within the nation’s financial industry. He has forced the three largest rating agencies to the bargaining table, persuaded mortgage lenders to agree to rework their appraisals and sought to force down the cost of student loans by shaming universities and lenders.”
