Insurers Back Away From TARP

[steven johnson]

Could it be they don't want the government looking too closely at their executive compensation and bonuses?

By LIAM PLEVEN and DAMIAN PALETTA
Thanks, but no thanks.

That is the message some insurers sent Friday to the Treasury Department, after they finally got word they were approved for federal assistance under its Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP.

The spectrum of responses shows how hard the decision of whether to take government assistance can be for firms stung by the financial crisis, and also how much circumstances have changed since these firms first sought aid in November.

"You don't take TARP money unless there's some weaknesses. It's not the happiest money in the world," said Andrew Kligerman, an insurance-industry analyst at UBS.



http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124240511368324329.html#mod=testMod">Insurers Back Away From TARP

[DJ13]

1. If they are publicly traded companies they have a duty

to their shareholders not to put their own personal compensation ahead of the needs of the company.

I could see this turning into a nasty legal battle from pissed off pension funds suing the executives because the stock keeps falling due to their not taking any TARP money.

[tdavis]

2. interesting

interesting