MetLife To Seek Overturn Of FSOC's Non-bank SIFI Designation - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Insurer MetLife, Inc. (MET) Tuesday said it would file an action in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia today to overturn the Financial Stability Oversight Council's or FSOC's designation of the company as a non-bank systemically important financial institution or SIFI.

Chairman, President and CEO Steven Kandarian said, "We had hoped to avoid litigation after we presented substantial and compelling evidence to FSOC demonstrating that MetLife is not systemically important. Now we will take the next step in the process established by the Dodd-Frank Act and ask a federal judge to review FSOC's decision."

In Dodd-Frank, Congress specifically provided that any company designated as a SIFI may petition the federal courts for an order "requiring that the final determination be rescinded."

In taking the unusual step of providing for judicial review, Congress recognized that the implications of a designation were potentially so negative that independent review by the courts should be available. MetLife's filing will be available online later today.

Kandarian said, "...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. The government should preserve a level playing field in the life insurance industry."

If additional regulation is necessary, the government has a superior tool at its disposal - an approach that focuses on potentially systemic activities regardless of the size of the firm. FSOC has already embraced that activities-based approach for the asset management industry, he added.

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP are serving as outside counsel to MetLife, Inc. on SIFI-related issues.