So what happens if we manage to wrest all those retention bonuses away from the AIG traders who destroyed the company? Maybe this:
Company officials contend that the uproar is scaring away the very employees who understand AIG Financial Products’ complex trades and who are trying to dismantle the division before it further endangers the world’s economy.
“It’s going to blow up,” said a senior Financial Products manager, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak for the company. “I have a horrible, horrible, horrible feeling that this is going to end badly.”
That would be bad. But Andrew Ross Sorkin thinks it might be even worse:
A.I.G. employees concocted complex derivatives that then wormed their way through the global financial system. If they leave — the buzz on Wall Street is that some have, and more are ready to — they might simply turn around and trade against A.I.G.’s book. Why not? They know how bad it is. They built it.
So as unpalatable as it seems, taxpayers need to keep some of these brainiacs in their seats, if only to prevent them from turning against the company.
Now that’s a lovely thought, isn’t it? If they don’t get their bonuses, these guys might not only leave AIG, but turn around and do their best to make things even worse. That’s just speculation, of course. But would it surprise anyone if that started to happen?