insurance for “regulatory capital relief” was the American insurance giant AIG and its Financial Products offices in London and Paris. By the end of 2007 it was providing insurance for $379 billion in assets held by major European banks, led by ABN AMRO ($56.2 billion), Danish bank Danske ($32.2 billion), German bank KfW ($30 billion), French mortgage lender Crédit Logement ($29.3 billion), BNP Paribas ($23.3 billion) and Société Générale ($15.6 billion).43 AIG’s insurance allowed them to save a total of $16 billion in regulatory capital, further increasing leverage, profits and bonus
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