TARP

Before it collapsed, AIG, as measured by asset value, was the largest insurer in the world. But in September 2008, after its credit rating went down, AIG was caught without enough collateral for the credit default swaps it had sold to banks around the world, and was forced to accept a massive federal bailout package in order to forestall a collapse. As the size of the company's debts have grown, the U.S. government has readjusted the terms of the bailout, and gradually begun to take over parts of the company.

The Bank of New York Mellon was created in 2007 by the merger of Bank of New York and Mellon. The bank announced on October 14, 2008 that it was selected by U.S. Treasury to help administer the government's bank bailout program (Troubled Asset Relief Program) authorized under the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.