Moin,
Quelle: Wallstreet Journal
[Quote]
The U.S. government reached a deal Sunday night to scrap its original $123 billion bailout of American International Group Inc. and replace it with a new $150 billion package, according to people familiar with the matter.
While the arrangement stands to considerably ease terms on the faltering insurer, it gives the government an unprecedented role as an actor in financial markets. It could also spark a political backlash, especially from congressional Democrats, because the Treasury, while adding to its AIG obligations, has thus far refused to extend a hand to the struggling Big Three auto makers.
[AIG] Getty Images
Details of the revised deal could be announced as soon as Monday -- when the company is expected to report third-quarter earnings. Under the terms ironed out late Sunday, the government would give AIG more money, including $40 billion from the U.S. Treasury's $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. It would also receive less interest than on the bulk of the original loan, while freeing AIG from exposure to some of the risky financial instruments that nearly caused it to file for bankruptcy protection.
The $150 billion in government aid consists of a $60 billion loan, a $40 billion preferred-stock investment and $50 billion in capital largely to purchase distressed assets which are to be placed into two separate financing entities.
The new package is a tacit acknowledgment that the original $85 billion rescue in September, combined with an additional $37.8 billion made available to the company last month, together haven't come close to stabilizing AIG. The giant insurer employs more than 100,000 people world-wide and touches business and finance at innumerable points throughout the global economy.
Treasury is currently considering whether to expand the $700 billion rescue program to apply to a range of financial institutions that provide financing to the broad economy. The department is expected to focus more heavily on injecting equity into companies, placing on the back burner its original plan to buy up troubled assets, such as bad loans and mortgage-backed securities.
The changes at AIG follow widespread criticism from some large shareholders of the original rescue plan, which would have required AIG to quickly sell assets in a declining market while also paying steep interest rates on its loans from the government.
[Edward Liddy]
Edward Liddy
That plan also failed to adequately address the main challenge facing the insurer -- how it was hemorrhaging billions on credit default swaps and other financial instruments -- as it posted collateral to nervous trading partners. AIG Chief Executive Edward Liddy, appointed in mid-September with the support of the government, has scrambled to resolve the insurer's problems under the original bailout framework.
AIG laid out a far-reaching plan in early October for selling off assets to pay back the first loan the government extended, which was for up to $85 billion. But the turmoil in the markets has made it difficult for potential buyers to secure funding.
The revised structure is designed to improve both AIG's ability to sell assets for a decent price and the taxpayer's ability to recoup the money that has been pumped into the insurer. It also transfers to the government many of the risks once absorbed by AIG, potentially exposing the government to billions of dollars in future losses.
Under the new agreement, the government will replace its original $85 billion, two-year loan with a $60 billion loan due in five years. Interest on the loan is set to drop from 8.5% plus three-month Libor interest-rate benchmark to 3% plus Libor. (Libor, the London interbank offered rate, is a common short-term benchmark.)
In addition, the government would tap the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program to inject $40 billion into AIG in return for preferred shares. Those shares would carry 10% annual interest payments. The government's equity interest in AIG would remain at 79.9% following the changes.
The government's initial intervention was driven by concern that AIG's failure to meet it obligations in the credit default swap market would create a global financial meltdown. (A credit default swap, or CDS, is essentially an insurance policy on a bond acquired by investors to guard against default. AIG wrote tens of billions of dollars worth of these contracts.)
Under the revised deal, AIG is expected to transfer the troubled holdings into two separate entities.
The first such vehicle is to be capitalized with $30 billion from the government and $5 billion from AIG. That money will be used to acquire the underlying securities with a face value of $70 billion that AIG agreed to insure with the credit default swaps. These securities, known as collateralized debt obligations, are thinly traded investments that include pools of loans. The vehicle will seek to acquire the securities from their trading partners on the CDS contracts for about 50 cents on the dollar.
The securities in question don't account for all of AIG's credit default swap exposure but are connected to the most troubled assets. The government may be betting that its involvement will encourage AIG's trading partners to sell the securities tied to the CDS contracts to the new entity.
Once it holds the securities, AIG could cancel the credit default swaps and take possession of the collateral it had posted to back the contracts. The total collateral at stake is about $30 billion.
It may also have some unintended consequences across the markets. For the plan to work, AIG's trading partners -- the banks and financial institutions that are on the other side of its credit-default-swap contracts -- may have to agree to any changes in the terms of their agreements with AIG.
The agreements may be difficult to work out. Some financial institutions that face AIG in credit-default swaps don't actually hold the physical securities on which they purchased protection.
A second vehicle would be set up to solve the liquidity problems in AIG's securities-lending business. The business involves lending out securities to short sellers or others and investing the collateral for gains.
AIG has labored to unload illiquid assets in order to give back the collateral it accepted. AIG's exposure to the securities-lending market forced it to seek a $37.8 billion loan from the government to cover its commitments.
Under the new plan, the government is expected to inject about $20 billion into the securities lending vehicle, with AIG providing an additional $1 billion. The entity would then buy the illiquid securities the AIG unit holds, known as residential mortgage-backed securities, for about 50 cents on the dollar. AIG would use the proceeds to shut down the $37.8 billion lending facility which it has not yet fully tapped.
Over time, two scenarios could emerge. The assets held by the two vehicles might recover in value, allowing the government to eventually make money on the investment. Conversely, the assets -- many of which are tied to the housing market -- could continue to decline in value, hitting taxpayers with big losses.
The challenges facing AIG remain enormous. With so much uncertainty about its future, it is battling to retain some key business customers as well as valuable employees in its operating units.
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Auf jeden Fall schonmal diesen ungeschickten ersten Bailout verändert. 60 Mrd. Dollar Kredit, Laufzeit 5 Jahre mit einem Zinssatz von 3 % + Libor. Das gibt AIG mehr Zeit und eine bessere Verhandlungsposition was Unternehmensverkäufe anbetrifft.
Dann pumpt die Regierung weitere 40 Mrd. Dollar in Form von Vorzugsaktien in den Konzern. Der Anteil von 79,9 % bleibt.
Und dann werden die problembehafteten Papiere noch in 2 weitere Gesellschaften "outgesourct". In die eine Gesellschaft pumpt der Staat 30 Mrd. Dollar, in die andere 20 Mrd. Dollar. Ich glaube gerade dieses Vorgehen ist gut, da die Credit Default Swaps durch ständiges Nachlegen von Sicherheiten die Liquidität AIGs gefährdet haben.
Bin jetzt gespannt wie sich dieses Maßnahmen auf den Kurs auswirken.
Einen schönen Tag uns allen Investierten.
krauty77
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die Übernahme von Milliarden Anleihen des Versicherers, hieß es in den Kreisen am Freitag.