US, Europe Banks Get Cash From AIG Rescue: Report

At least two dozen American and European banks benefited from the bailout of American International Group, with approximately $50 billion paid out to them since the Federal Reserve first gave aid to the insurance giant, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.

Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank received about $6 billion between September and December last year, the paper said, quoting a confidential document and people familiar with the matter.

Other banks that received large payouts from AIG late last year include Merill Lynch, which was bought by Bank of America , and France's Societe Generale, according to the report.

Morgan Stanley , Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Calyon, Barclays, Rabobank, Danske Bank, Santander, Wachovia and Bank of America are also among the counterparties who benefited from the AIG bailout, the paper said.

Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Bank of America, Calyon, and Wells Fargo, which has absorbed Wachovia, could not be reached for comment.

French banks Societe Generale and Calyon on Sunday declined to comment on the story, as did Deutsche Bank, Britain's Barclays and unlisted Dutch group Rabobank.

Separately, French newspaper Le Parisien newspaper on Sunday said that SocGen might have got $4.8 billion from the bailout and Calyon $1.8 billion.

AIG, whose $61.66 billion fourth-quarter loss was the largest ever for a US company, received $30 billion more in government funds last Monday.

The insurer's financial health hasn't improved despite getting as much as $150 billion from the government last year.

Lawmakers have pressed the insurer to disclose its counterparties and have slammed the secrecy of banking bailouts.

Fed Vice Chairman Donald Kohn said revealing names risked jeopardizing AIG's continuing business but said the counterparties numbered in the "millions" and were spread all over the globe, including pension funds and US households, according to a Reuters report.

Congressmen criticized the generosity of the bailout for counterparties, and one lawmaker said AIG had to be bailed out because otherwise it was "going to bring down Europe."

The names of the counterparties who benefited from the AIG rescue have still not been officially disclosed.

The taxpayer-funded rescue of AIG helped prevent its counterparties from sustaining immediate losses on mortgage-backed securities and other assets they had insured through the company.

-- Reuters contributed to this story

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