The SEC Released Files On Its Probe Into AIG - And Everything Is Ridiculously Redacted

The bailout of AIG remains one of the more controversial chapters of the 2008 financial crisis.

So under the Freedom of Information Act, the Wall Street Journal in March requested transcripts "related to federal investigations into three former AIG executives from the London unit that nearly brought down the insurer."

Those SEC probes closed in 2010 and no charges were brought.

In response to the Journal's request, the SEC has released absurdly redacted files, blacking-out the names of witnesses, lawyers, and "even the proofreaders who checked the transcripts." From the Journal (via Bloomberg's Matt Levine):

In one instance, the deletions reduced a question by an SEC investigator to: "Is he right about the [[redacted]] in [[redacted]] ahead of the [[redacted]]". The answer: "Yes. I think that's accurate that the [[redacted]] at a faster [[redacted]] than [[redacted]] was [[redacted]]."

Here's what some of the pages look like:

WSJThe SEC told the Journal its decision was based on "extensive…precedent and a close analysis of individual facts and circumstances."

You can see the full document here and read the Journal's story here.