MetLife Says Strongly Disagrees With FSOC Systemic Risk Label

(RTTNews) - Insurance provider MetLife Inc. (MET) said that it strongly disagrees with the Financial Stability Oversight Council's preliminary designation of the company as a SIFI or Systemically Important Financial Institution. The company is not ruling out any of the available remedies under Dodd-Frank to contest a SIFI designation.

The Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of MetLife, Steven Kandarian, issued a statement after the Financial Stability Oversight Council or FSOC notified the company that it has been preliminarily designated a non-bank Systemically Important Financial Institution or SIFI.

"MetLife is not systemically important under the Dodd-Frank Act criteria. In fact, MetLife has served as a source of financial strength and stability during times of economic distress, including the 2008 financial crisis."

Kandarian stated that the current regulatory system oversees a stable industry that pays out more than $500 billion every year. Imposing bank-centric capital rules on life insurance companies will make it more difficult for Americans to buy products that help protect their financial futures. At a time when government social safety nets are under increasing pressure and corporate pensions are disappearing, the goal of public policy should be to preserve and encourage competitively priced financial protection for consumers.

In a separate press release, MetLife, Inc. in conjunction with its partners Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam or BIDV and AMMB Holdings Berhad (AmBank Group) in Malaysia announced that it has appointed Mr. Dustin Ball as its Chief Executive Officer for its Vietnam business, BIDV MetLife Life Insurance Limited Liability Company , and that Ramzi Toubassy has received regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Malaysia/Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to be appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of AmMetLife Insurance Berhad (AmMetLife) in Malaysia.