New York Fed Sells Last of Its AIG Assets, Ending Ties with Insurer

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York brought to a close another chapter in the government’s taxpayer-funded bailouts of 2008 with the sale of its remaining assets of insurer American International Group, the bank said on Thursday.

The New York Fed said it sold the rest of the mortgage-backed securities from its Maiden Lane III portfolio, resulting in a gain of $6.6 billion. Maiden Lane III was one of the entities created by the Fed during the financial crisis to help rescue AIG.

“The completion of the sale of the Maiden Lane III portfolio marks the end of an important chapter – our assistance to AIG – that was undertaken to stabilize the financial system in the midst of the financial crisis,” New York Fed President William Dudley said in a statement.

The New York Fed had lent $24.3 billion to fund the purchase of these Maiden Lane III securities, while AIG took a $5 billion equity stake in the portfolio.

Last February, the New York Fed wound down another AIG portfolio, Maiden Lane II, which it had lent $19.5 billion.