AIG's bonus payment to be deducted from bailout: report

The US will deduct $165 million the troubled insurance giant AIG paid its top executives as bonus from the $30 billion the firm is due to get as part of its bailout package, a media report said today.

A BBC report quoted US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner as saying in a letter to Congressmen that the ailing insurer will be required to pay back the hugely controversial bonuses it awarded after taking public bail-out money.

Earlier on Monday, President Barack Obama had termed the bonus payout as "an outrage", while a number of Congressmen have raised concerns at the controversial payout.

"Frustration has been growing over the bonuses, and reports say that AIG offices have received hate mail and even death threats," BBC said.

As per the report, Geithner in his letter also outlined the measures he had taken to try to stop the bonuses being paid.

"We will impose on AIG a contractual commitment to pay the Treasury from the operations of the company the amount of the retention awards just paid... In addition, we will deduct from the $30-billion in assistance an amount equal to the amount of those payments," Geithner added.