Tag: MetLife

Regulatory

Is the Joint Decision to Withdraw Met Life’s SIFI Designation a Hobson’s Choice?

With the consent of the Trump Administration, on Thursday, January 18, 2018, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), a Federal government organization established by Title I of the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act during the Obama administration, and MetLife jointly filed a motion with in the United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. FSOC empowers the government to designate non-banks as SIFI’s, which subjects them to heightened supervisory requirements by the Federal Reserve.

The motion effectively ends a nearly two-year …

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Regulatory

Just Down the Hall — D.C. Appeals Court Hears Appeal Over MetLife’s SIFI Status

On March 30, 2016, Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia stripped MetLife of its designation as a nonbank systemically important financial institution (nonbank SIFI). She held that the designation was arbitrary and capricious as the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) failed to follow proper administrative procedures during the evaluation process. Just over a week later, FSOC walked down the hall of the U.S. Courthouse at 333 Constitution Avenue, NW and filed its appeal. On October 24, 2016, …

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Regulatory

Federal Judge Overturns MetLife’s SIFI Designation

In a first-of-its-kind decision, U.S. District Judge Rosemary M. Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia granted MetLife’s motion to remove the non-bank SIFI designation imposed by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC). This is a highly significant case, as it represents the first time a SIFI-designated company has challenged the designation. However, the order and opinion are currently under seal, possibly due to the inclusion of confidential and proprietary information on both sides. The parties have until April 6, 2016 …

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Regulatory

U.S. District Judge Explores the SIFI Designation Process

For the first time since the passage of Dodd-Frank, a U.S. District Judge is exploring the process by which the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) designates non-bank financial institutions as systemically important financial institutions (nonbank SIFIs). On February 10, 2016, U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia heard arguments in the matter of MetLife v. FSOC.

In January 2015, MetLife filed a lawsuit challenging the FSOC’s designation of MetLife as a nonbank SIFI. Specifically, the lawsuit …

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Regulatory

FSOC Replies to MetLife Lawsuit Challenging Nonbank SIFI Status

In early 2015, MetLife filed a lawsuit challenging its designation as a nonbank systemically important financial institution (nonbank SIFI). On May 11, 2015, the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) filed a redacted motion to dismiss (or in the alternative a motion for summary judgment) in response to MetLife’s lawsuit.

One of MetLife’s key arguments in its complaint is that FSOC’s designation was arbitrary and capricious. FSOC argues in its motion to dismiss, dated May 11, 2015, that its decision to designate MetLife as a nonbank …

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Emerging Issues

MetLife Files First Challenge to SIFI Designation

MetLife is challenging its designation as a nonbank systemically important financial institution (SIFI). Dodd-Frank created the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) which comprises the heads of federal financial regulators and a voting insurance specialist and is chaired by the Treasury Secretary.  So far, three insurance companies, Prudential, AIG and MetLife, have received the nonbank SIFI designation.  However, MetLife is the first to take advantage of the judicial review provision in Dodd-Frank.

Dodd-Frank provides that within 30 days of a final determination by the FSOC.  A …

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Emerging Issues / Regulatory

Too Big To Fail? MetLife To Fight Federal Agency’s Designation of the Insurer as a ‘Systemically Important Financial Institution’

In the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Congress passed the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank). After Americans quickly learned that financial institutions previously thought “too big to fail” could, in fact, fail, Dodd-Frank equipped the Federal Reserve with unprecedented regulatory power to ensure safeguards were in place to prevent a similar crisis in the future. Dodd-Frank established the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), a government organization which has the authority to designate financial institutions as Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs). …

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