FSOC: We Played by Rules in MetLife Designation

Receiving Wide Coverage…

Round 2: Right now, the score is MetLife: 1, FSOC: 0. But the government is looking to even the odds.

MetLife won a major victory in federal district court this spring when a judge threw out its "systemically important" label, ruling that the Financial Stability Oversight Council fell short in proving that the insurer deserved the designation.

The government appealed the decision in April, and regulators filed their first detailed brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Thursday night. The council, which is represented by the Justice Department, called the lower court judge's ruling "profoundly mistaken."

For those keeping tabs, MetLife is represented in the case by Eugene Scalia, son of the late Justice Antonin Scalia, and he has racked up quite a slate of wins against financial regulators over the past decade. Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Reuters

Wall Street Journal

Making lemonade: Falling interest rates have one "potential bright spot" -- borrowers are purchasing new homes and refinancing in higher numbers than expected. But low interest rates are still a problem for banks, especially those with lots of long-term loans and mortgage-backed securities.

Bottleneck approaching: Visa and MasterCard said they'll speed up the certification process for merchants adopting chip-reading technology for credit cards.

Persona non grata: Stealing Federal Reserve secrets will get you barred from the banking industry and sanctioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Rohit Bansal, formerly of Goldman Sachs, learned that lesson the hard way.

FASB finally done: Accounting standards-setters have completed their long-brewing rule that will require banks to record anticipated losses faster on loans gone bad.

Financial Times

Warm fuzzies: Impact investing – which focuses on monetary returns as well as social or environmental good – is hot, hot, hot these days with everyone from Pope Francis to John D. Rockefeller's heirs getting involved. When it comes to results, your mileage may vary.

Case closed: HSBC has agreed to a record $1.6 billion settlement in a shareholder lawsuit involving the purchase of U.S. subprime lender Household International before the meltdown. The acquisition has a reputation for being "one of the most misconceived of the pre-crisis era."

Elsewhere…

DAO hack: The Decentralized Autonomous Organization, which controls millions of dollars of the digital currency Ethereum, suffered what appears to be a devastating attack early Friday morning. Later, one cryptocurrency news site reported that the hack had been fixed.

F is for … 'formal complaint': CNBC obtained a list of more than 180 phrases that will get an internal email flagged by the Goldman Sachs compliance department. Standard expletives apply, as do some goodies like "formal complaint," "don't worry about the losses" and "sure bet."

Saber-rattling: Heads of some of the financial services trade groups are praising a plan by House Republicans that would repeal a cap on debit card fees paid by merchants. Their op-ed appears in The Hill.