EmmyJane
To add to what JoB had to say: The bonuses were laid out in contracts made in March 2008, pre-Obama and pre-TARP.
Per a great opinion piece in the WSJ yesterday: “Scott Polakoff, acting director of the Office of Thrift Supervision, told the Senate Banking Committee this month that, contrary to media myth, AIG’s infamous Financial Products unit did not slip through the regulatory cracks. Mr. Polakoff said that the whole of AIG, including this unit, was regulated by his agency and by a “college” of global bureaucrats…. And his agency wasn’t the only federal regulator. AIG’s Financial Products unit has been overseen for years by an SEC-approved monitor.”
If you want the whole article, PM me your email address and I’ll send it to you.
Now that the bonuses are paid, there is little the gov can do to get them back. It would cost more to legally pursue getting the money back than what would be returned.