The largest insurer in the US is challenging regulators who have deemed it so important to the financial system that it could trigger a financial crash if it collapsed. In the first legal challenge of its kind, MetLife is suing the government to appeal the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s labelling of it as ‘systemically important’, bringing stricter government oversight and high costs. The designation could also force the company to raise prices of products or stop offering some services, the company says.
New regulator
The insurance company will now have a new regulator – the Federal Reserve. It is currently regulated by New York State. Three other nonbank financial firms have been designated ‘too big to fail.’ They are American International Group, General Electric Capital Corp and Prudential Financial, none of whom have appealed their new ranking. Source: StateJournal
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