Academic

AIG, Westgate, and the Stash

By Gordon Smith, Christine, Hurt, Vic Fleischer, Fred Tung, Lisa Fairfax, David Zaring

• What will the government do with AIG?  The options are getting stranger, including one that "might resemble a private equity arrangement, in which the federal government would take ownership of A.I.G.?s operating units, then later sell them in an initial public offering," and another that would involve "the conversion of the government?s holdings of A.I.G.?s preferred stock, worth $40 billion, into common shares. That would provide some relief because the preferred stock gets a 10 percent dividend, and the company would not pay any dividend on the common stock."  Private equity? Nationalizer?  New roles keep coming for the Fed.
• We predicted there would be more Madoffs, and here's today's press release and complaint on Westgate, which doesn't have that patina of sketchiness that so often characterize the SEC's litigation targets.
• The New Republic has a bailout blog called the Stash, designed to explain finance to Washington types.  Do give it a look.

Full post as published by Conglomerate on February 25, 2009 (boomark / email).