Powerful Wall Street Executive Takes U.S. Government And Federal Reserve To Court

◼ The government is not empowered to trample shareholder and property rights even in the midst of a financial emergency. So says the legal representative for Hank Greenberg, former head of AIG, and among the most powerful and influential figures on Wall Street for several decades. - Ulsterman

At the crux of the Greenberg lawsuit is the contention that the U.S. government used the AIG bailout as a sort of taxpayer-funded money laundering institution once the government took an 80% stake in the multi-national insurance giant, a scenario Greenberg describes as “backdoor bailouts” that, according to the suit, amounted to over $100 billion dollars – allowing the Obama administration and the Federal Reserve to funnel bailout funds to goverment-approved institutions with little to no oversight or accountability.

Rather than granting AIG the same access to liquidity assistance that it granted to numerous other institutions, including various foreign companies, the government instead chose to use the difficulties faced by AIG to implement a takeover of the company without just compensation.

◼ AIG's Greenberg sues U.S. for $25 billion - Chicago Tribune
◼ Maurice R. "Hank" Greenberg, the longtime former chief executive of American International Group Inc., launched a legal challenge to the government's 2008 takeover of AIG, alleging the move was unconstitutional. - Wall St. Journal
◼ Hank Greenberg Is Suing The Government Over The Takeover Of AIG And Wants $25 BILLION In Damages - Business Insider