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On Monday, the insurer announced that it would sell foreign life insurance business Alico to MetLife (MET, Fortune 500) for $15.5 billion. Last week, AIG said it reached an agreement to sell Asian life insurance giant AIA for $35.5 billion.

That’s $51 billion that AIG said will eventually be used to pay down its debt to the government. The two sales mark the most significant progress that AIG has made to-date in its efforts to repay its bailout, which is worth up to $182 billion.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The tax man has gotten a lot more aggressive in slapping liens on taxpayers who are seriously delinquent in their payments.

In fact, the Internal Revenue Service issued 475% more liens last year than it did in 1999.

Full Story at  Bloomberg.com

Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — The Obama administration expects the cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program to be $200 billion less than projected, helping to reduce the size of the budget deficit, a Treasury Department official said yesterday.

The administration forecast in August that the TARP would ultimately cost $341 billion, once banks had repaid the government for capital injections and other investments. Congress authorized $700 billion for the program in October 2008.

Banks have paid back $71 billion so far, and a planned repayment by Bank of America Corp. would bring that figure to $116 billion. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said in an interview last week that he expects the TARP to get as much as $175 billion in repayments from banks by the end of 2010.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Bank of America said late Wednesday it planned to return the entire $45 billion in bailout money it received from the government over the past year.

The move would allow Bank of America, the nation’s largest lender, to wriggle free from a variety of government restrictions it has had to abide by, including pay caps for its top executives.

It could also smooth what has been a difficult search for a new chief executive.

Full Story at mone.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The Treasury Department, after missing an opportunity to rein in controversial bonuses to AIG employees last year, is now pressing the bailed out insurer to reduce a $198 million bonus pool, according to an overseer’s report released Tuesday.

Neil Barofsky, the special inspector general of the $700 billion bailout program, said that Treasury pay czar Kenneth Feinberg has recommended to AIG that the full $198 million not be paid out in full.

Full Story at money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (Fortune) — I’ve always thought that the guys running Goldman Sachs were really smart, not only about making money, but also about projecting a classy image to the world outside of Wall Street. Clearly, I overestimated them.

If there was ever a firm with the motivation — and the money — to be gracious to the U.S. taxpayers who kept it alive when the financial markets were imploding, it’s Goldman. It had a chance to look good and do good for taxpayers and itself and Wall Street for a relative pittance — and has blown it. Horribly.

As you have probably noticed, Goldman is getting attacked for posting record profits and setting aside a record amount for employee compensation about three seconds after it repaid its $10 billion of loans from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Full Story At money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — AIG shareholders, a.k.a. U.S. taxpayers, ousted the majority of the company’s leadership at AIG’s annual shareholders meeting Tuesday, removing the overseers of one of the biggest corporate unravelings in American history.

Just three of the 11 directors that oversaw the company’s downward spiral in September remained on AIG’s board. Two directors who were placed on the board after the company came undone, including Chief Executive and Chairman Edward Liddy, also stayed in place.

AIG’s three trustees, who represent the government’s near-80% controlling interest in the company, elected the new directors on behalf of the taxpayers.

The six directors who did not stand for re-election were not in attendance at the annual meeting.

Full Story At mney.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — In the wake of Michael Jackson’s death, concert promoter AEG Live said on Tuesday that ticket holders for his canceled shows in London will be fully refunded.

“Since he loved his fans in life, it is incumbent upon us to treat them with the same reverence and respect after his death,” said Randy Phillips, Chief Executive of AEG Live, in a written statement.

The company also announced that ticket holders have the option of being “sent the actual tickets they would have received to attend the shows in lieu of the full refunds which are being offered.” This offer stands through Aug. 14, the company said.

Ticket holders for the “This Is It” concert series can obtain their refunds by going to www.Michael.JacksonLive.com, starting on July 1. The refunds will include service charges, the company said.

Full Story At money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — General Motors owes hundreds of millions of dollars to major suppliers who have never made an auto part, rubber tire or sheet of steel — and they’re not likely to get paid anytime soon.

GM is on the hook for more than $100 million for advertising it purchased before filing for bankruptcy earlier this month. The list of utilities who are GM creditors takes up 80 pages in its bankruptcy filing.

Among the company’s top 50 creditors, 10 are outside the auto or transportation industries. GM owes these firms just under $250 million. But they have to take a back seat in the bankruptcy process.

Full Story At money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The recession has taken its toll on Social Security. The officials who oversee the program forecast Tuesday that the Social Security trust fund will be exhausted by 2037 — four years earlier than estimated last year.

The trust fund reflects a $2.4 trillion surplus paid into Social Security over 20 years that Uncle Sam has borrowed, spent and promised to pay back. Trust fund exhaustion represents the point at which only 76% of benefits could be paid out.

Full Story At money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Chrysler LLC will not repay U.S. taxpayers more than $7 billion in bailout money it received earlier this year and as part of its bankruptcy filing.

This revelation was buried within Chrysler’s bankruptcy filings last week and confirmed by the Obama administration Tuesday. The filings included a list of business assumptions from one of the company’s key financial advisors in the bankruptcy case.

Full Story At money.cnn.com

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Once a titan in the insurance world, AIG is a shadow of its former self, and experts say the company is likely doomed for failure.

That’s partly because AIG (AIG, Fortune 500) is slowly getting rid of its strong, moneymaking businesses as it attempts to pay back the roughly $130 billion it has borrowed on its $182 billion government bailout.

The company had to give up more than it had anticipated to pay back taxpayers because of the horrid credit environment, and analysts believe AIG may be giving up too much for it to survive on its own. Not that there was much choice.