MetLife is appealing to a court of law to reverse a recent decision by US regulators that classifies the insurance company as a non-bank systemically important financial institution (SIFI) due to the assets that it holds.
In December 2014 the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), part of the US Treasury, confirmed its earlier announcement that New York-based MetLife was systemically important to the US economy as: "material financial distress at MetLife could pose a threat to the financial stability of the United States".
MetLife said that it has filed an action in the US District Court for the District of Columbia to overturn the SIFI designation, in accordance with the relevant appeals procedure laid down in the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.
"FSOC's designation of MetLife is premature," said Steven A. Kandarian, Chairman, President and CEO of MetLife. "FSOC has designated non-bank SIFIs before the rules governing these companies have even been written. The Council should wait until the rules are in place and it knows the impact on designated firms.
"MetLife has always supported robust regulation of the life insurance industry and has operated under a stringent state regulatory system for decades. However, adding a new federal standard for just the largest life insurers and retaining a different standard for everyone else will drive up the cost of financial protection for consumers without making the financial system any safer."
