NU Online News Service, April 28, 4:22 p.m. EDT
WASHINGTON–Three members of the government panel appointed to oversee the taxpayers' investment in American International Group have been asked to brief the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on details of the status of the financially troubled company.
The chairman of the panel, Rep. Edolphus Towns, D-N.Y., in a letter yesterday asked Jill Considine, Chester Feldberg and Douglas Foshee to give his committee an update May 6 on AIG operations.
Rep. Towns has also asked Edward Liddy, AIG chairman and chief executive officer, to testify.
A spokesman for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which appointed the trustees, could not immediately say whether the trustees would attend the May 6 session.
In his letters to Ms. Considine, Mr. Feldberg and Mr. Foshee, Rep. Towns asked them to answer questions about the roles and responsibilities of the AIG Trust; what efforts the trustees have undertaken to date in performance of their duties; and whether the U.S. taxpayer investment in AIG is being adequately protected.
The trustees were appointed in early January to represent the government's interests in AIG. The government took control of 79.9 percent of AIG Sept. 16 in exchange for an aid package of up to $85 billion, a package that has since been revised three times.
According to AIG and government data, the company currently owes the government $80 billion–$40 billion in capital drawn from the Troubled Asset Relief Program, and $40 billion drawn from a $60 billion Fed-funded credit facility.
The Government Accountability Office estimates the government involvement in AIG at $173 billion, but according to AIG officials, that includes its estimate of the government's total investments in AIG.
Three trustees were selected by the New York Fed, in close consultation with the Treasury Department, to oversee this equity interest "in the best interests of the U.S. Treasury."
Ms. Considine is former chairman of the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation and former superintendent of banks in New York. Mr. Feldberg is former chairman of Barclays Americas. Mr. Foshee is president and CEO of El Paso Corp., based in El Paso, Texas.
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