And so we survived to fight another day. After a very nervy and frantic 2 days, the storm finally calmed for us. For 2 days, we rushed around to put together statements and briefing contents and nervously peeked at rating agencies’ websites. Google chrome would have been useful to provide tabs on different sites simultaneously, including the Federal Reserve site. AIG was under siege and everyone wanted to know if we were going to survive or go down Lehman’s path.
Lehman was a venerable institution. Back in Malaysia with a previous employer, any sales guys who sign up Lehman would be over the moon. But then again the sentiments were the same re Bear Stern. BS went what – 6 months ago now? Now Lehman is gone too. I suppose we get used to it after a while – that big venerable names do go down. Barings’ demise didn’t take long to adjust. But that was because of 1 man’s games. Nick Leeson’s misdemeanours pale into insignificance given the current turmoils of CDS and CDO’s. They promise “the mother of all credit squeeze”, “financial market tsunami” and other economic upheavals of unprecedented proportions. They have brought down huge banks and made the venerable vulnerable.
But not AIG it seems. Not yet anyway. George Soros said the worst is yet to come. We at AIG may have felt that we have just emerged from a storm but Soros thinks the markets are heading into one. Bracing ourselves for a huge hit would be what’s required I guess.
So work has resumed normalcy for now. I have become so tired.
Related Articles
- Huge bailout for insurance giant (autonetinsurance.co.uk)
- AIG Sells Rail-Car Leasing Business to Perella Weinberg (businessweek.com)
- AIG Said to Near $600 Million Sale of Rail-Car Unit to Perella (businessweek.com)
- Fed Reserve makes $626 million on another AIG asset sale (housingwire.com)
- Under the Microscope: AIG’s Second Chance (fitforrandomness.wordpress.com)
- AIG says “highly disappointed” in Fed decision (reuters.com)
- RPT-AIG says “highly disappointed” in Fed decision (reuters.com)
- AIG Hires Morgan Stanley’s Juhas, Who Advised Fed on Bailout (businessweek.com)
- Fed turns down AIG bid to rebuy dodgy assets (seattletimes.nwsource.com)
- A.I.G. Hires Morgan Stanley Banker as Internal Deal Maker (dealbook.nytimes.com)
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