Reading Brady Dennis' long and winding review of AIG e-mails prior to its implosion in the mortgage meltdown is a bit like watching the scene in the movie "Robocop" where Peter Weller's character is shot to near-death by hoodlums.
By contrasting public statements with private e-mails, Dennis' article reveals arrogance that is common in successful enterprises about PR - at one point an executive blows off a Wall Street Journal expose as a "non-story." The article also identifies real legal issues, such as when the executives writing those e-mails became aware they had a material-level problem on their hands and did they follow the law in disclosing it.
In between, the reader gets an inside look a the back and forth that takes place in crafting communication strategy that isn't illegal or dishonest but is a natural Socratic method for getting at the best way to get across a viewpoint.
Cassano remained upbeat about his firm's long-term prospects. In a late October e-mail to Habayeb, AIG chief risk officer Robert Lewis and others, he proposed a passage for an upcoming presentation saying "the continuing turmoil and general risk aversions" had left the firm with "significant opportunities" and "well positioned for continued revenue growth as competitors' appetite for certain transactions wanes."
Having all the interim steps made public after the fact would be damning no matter what the result. Any article that starts with a debate about whether the leaders of a firm of AIG's stature are delusional or dishonest can only go one way. They are already way past the tipping point where the goal of PR is no longer to preserve reputation but rather to keep the clients out of prison.
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