Fed Plans to Oversee GE Capital Like Large Bank-Holding Company

The Federal Reserve said it plans to oversee General Electric Co.'s finance unit in a similar manner to the way it supervises large bank-holding companies.

The Fed asked for public comment today on its regulation of GE Capital Corp., which was designated as systemically important by the Financial Stability Oversight Council in 2013.

The company would be subject to big-bank requirements on "risk-based and leverage capital, capital planning, stress testing, liquidity and risk management," the U.S. central bank said in a statement.

GE Capital also would have to comply with a so-called enhanced supplementary leverage ratio, "which is applicable to the largest, most systemic U.S. banking organizations," and independence requirements for its board members, the Fed said. Additionally, there would be "restrictions on inter-company transactions" between GE Capital and General Electric, it said.

When considering how to regulate nonbank companies, the Fed "intends to thoroughly assess the business model, capital structure, risk profile, and systemic footprint of a designated company to determine how the enhanced prudential standards would apply," the central bank said in its proposal.

The Fed will take public comments for 60 days after the proposal is published in the Federal Register.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council, or FSOC, is a group of regulators led by Treasury Secretary Jacob J. Lew that can designate non-bank financial companies for Fed oversight. It has given the systemically important label to GE Capital, and insurers American International Group Inc. and Prudential Financial Inc.

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