ZORCONIUM CROWN JEWEL HELD FOR POSTERIOR

BANZAI7 NEWs--FT reports AIG, the US government's insurance subsidiary, has decided against a sale of its aircraft leasing unit after concluding it would not reap a big enough profit from the divestment of one of its zirconium crown jewels, say people close to the matter.

The decision to keep most of International Lease Finance Corp, at least in the short term, will force the insurer to keep funding the debt bloated ($30 billion) division either through its cash resources or by raising additional bailout financing from the US government. Robert Beanmush would prefer to save this zirconium diamond in the rough for his posterior.

That, in turn, could further strain the troubled insurer's finances at a time when it is scrambling to repay about $80bn in bailout booty to the US Treasury and the Federal Reserve.