Frank Eyes Haircut Disparity Claim

The reported “disparity in treatment between foreign banks and U.S. banks is troubling, particularly since the U.S. banks now being asked to take such reductions are some of the very taxpayers that have been funding AIG,” Bachus writes in his letter.

Frank acknowledges in his letter that his does not know what evidence Bachus has for the point he makes.

“But it is a serious issue and must be addressed,” Frank writes. “Clearly, any discrimination against American-owned financial institutions compared to the treatment being received by foreign owned institutions would be unacceptable to the Congress, and I believe to the American public.”

“AIG is making appropriate business decisions consistent with the fact that the company has limited resources and one over-riding priority: to repay taxpayers,” an AIG representative says in a response to the Frank and Bachus letters.