An independent investigator is trying to determine if the New York Federal Reserve improperly kept to itself details about its bailout of insurance giant AIG. Neil Barofsky, inspector general of the Troubled Asset Relief Program, is also investigating whether the Fed withheld documents relating to AIG during an audit.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, who served as New York Fed president when AIG received its initial $85 billion rescue loan, told lawmakers that he was not involved in decisions to withhold information. Geithner has been criticized for the Fed’s decision to pay in full several banks for their bad bets with AIG, instead of requiring them to accept smaller TARP payments.
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