More of American International Group's speculative assets are onthe block.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York announced late Wednesdaythat it is exploring the sale of collateralized debt obligationsoriginally owned by AIG's troubled Financial Products Group.

The original value of the securities held in the facilitycreated by the Fed was $24.3 billion; it is unclear what thepresent value is.

In a statement, the FRBNY says it is exploring the sale ofassets held by Maiden Lane III, including the MAX CDO holdings.

Spokesman Jack Gutt says there is no fixed timeframe for thesales—at each stage, the Federal Reserve will sell an asset only ifthe best available bid represents good value for the public whiletaking appropriate care to avoid market disruption.

The statement says the New York Fed has directed BlackRockSolutions, the investment manager for ML III, to conduct acompetitive bid process for the entirety of the MAX CDOholdings.

All-or-none bids will be due on April 26, at which point the NewYork Fed will decide whether to sell depending on the strength ofthe best bid.

The Fed said that eight broker-dealers have been invited tosubmit bids for the MAX CDO holdings because they have recentlyexpressed an interest in buying them.

They are Barclays Capital Inc.; Citigroup Global Markets Inc.;Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC; Deutsche Bank Securities Inc.;Goldman, Sachs & Co.; and Merrill Lynch Pierce, Fenner &Smith Incorporated; Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC; and NomuraSecurities International, Inc.  

If the sale is successful, it will mean that the Fed hasdivested itself of all AIG assets it purchased in exchange for cashin the fall of 2008, when AIG was in desperate need of cash to fundits liabilities.

Maiden Lane II and III were set up to provide cash for AIG inaddition to approximately $225 billion in cash aid provided thecompany at one point.

The Fed completed sale of the securities held in the Maiden LaneII portfolio last month.