AIG Chupa!

Nice, technical article by "A Credit Trader" about how AIG screwed the pooch:

The broad outlines of the story are the following. As part of an effort to expand its insurance underwriting business, AIG (more precisely, London-based AIG Financial Products) began writing protection on supersenior (senior to AAA) ABS (Asset-Backed Securities) CDOs (Collateralized Debt Obligations). By the time lax underwriting standards led AIG to get out of this business in 2005, it had sold some $560bn of protection.

By 2007 spreads had widened enough that counterparties started to demand that AIG post collateral on the trades, which by mid 2008 totaled over $16bn. Following its first and second quarterly losses of $5.3bn and $7.8bn, AIG, under pressure, adjusted the valuation methodology for its CDO portfolio (word at the time was the company was not mark-to-marking the trades) - leading to a further $8bn writedown. On September 15th - the Monday following the Lehman default, AIG’s rating was cut, effectively guaranteeing a bankruptcy of the company. Concernerned about the effect on world markets, the government stepped in with a bailout.

After some technical analysis of AIG's risk management, he concludes that AIG's insurance was worthless, and asks:

Did the banks realize the value of its protection held against AIG was zero? Of course they did - they aren’t as dumb as the media suggests. The reason they continued to pay the full market CDS offer (rather than a much lower level due to AIG’s massive wrong-wayness) to AIG was because they considered it a cost that allowed them to continue originating CDOs. If they could not offload super-senior risk to someone, their originating desks would be effectively shut down.

So, while the trading desks continued to buy super-senior protection from AIG, the risk management desks, realizing that the protection was effectively worthless, bought protection on AIG itself from the street and clients in large size. In fact, I would imagine the size they needed to buy was too large and they likely ended up buying puts on the AIG stock or just shorting outright. Let’s hope the Fed unwinds of AIG’s trades took into account the huge gains these banks took on the AIG hedges.

Good stuff!