Before the bust: AIG's early collateral postings

AIG's collateral postings after the rescue are well known - essentially the firm was saved so that it could continue to fulfil its obligations to the banking system, notably under the CDS it had written. AIG before the fall has received less attention. But now Bloomberg has done some digging, and the story of the collateral calls that brought AIG down is emerging.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Societe Generale SA extracted about $11.4 billion from American International Group Inc. before the insurer’s collapse as the firms demanded to hold cash against losses on mortgage-linked securities, ... “It was precisely that drain of liquidity to Goldman and SocGen that put AIG in a position of illiquidity and ultimately threw them into the government’s arms,” said Charles Calomiris, a finance professor.

Including collateral from before and after the rescue and payments made by Maiden Lane III, a vehicle created by the Fed to retire the swaps, Goldman Sachs received about $14 billion from AIG, Societe Generale got $16.5 billion, and Deutsche Bank AG received $8.5 billion.