AIG CEO Edward Liddy will testify before a House panel today, just as new details are emerging about the fed’s knowledge of the bonus controversy.
The Washington Post reports today that officials at the New York Fed knew about the bonuses and the potential fallout months in advance of the scandal:
Documents show that senior officials at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York received details about the bonuses more than five months before the firestorm erupted and were deeply engaged with AIG as well as outside lawyers, auditors and public relations firms about the potential controversy. But the New York Fed did not raise the alarm with the Obama administration until the end of February.
Timothy F. Geithner, who became Treasury secretary early this year, was the head of the New York Fed when it became aware of the bonus details. But his name is not among those of senior New York Fed officials mentioned in the summaries of phone calls, correspondence and other documents obtained by The Washington Post.
Coupled with today’s news that the administration is eyeing a broad overhaul of financial salary practices, get ready for a series of stories on either (1) government overreaching, (2) populist backlash against Wall Street, or (3) both.