AIG Negotiating Yet Another Bailout

AIG is seeking yet another bailout from the federal government, the Financial Times reports, as the troubled insurer prepares to post a quarterly loss the Wall Street Journal expects to exceed $60 billion. The new package would see the government swap its previous $60 billion loan for equity and acquire of some of its Asian businesses. A new bailout would be the third time in just five months that the taxpayer has bankrolled AIG; the authorities already own 80% of the company.

A central goal of the current effort is the preservation of AIG's credit rating; if it's downgraded, the insurer would be liable for billions in payouts to its trading partners. Both the Treasury and the Fed refused to comment on the negotiations, but an announcement is expected next week.
(More bailout stories.)