SIFIs

WASHINGTON – The public advocacy group Better Markets is calling on a federal court to explain why it has decided to seal an opinion, delivered Wednesday, that struck down MetLife’s designation as a systemically risky nonbank.

GE Capital has formally asked the Financial Stability Oversight Council to review and rescind its designation as a systemically important financial institution, setting in motion a highly anticipated process that has not yet been tried by a designated firm.

The DC District Court handed the insurance giant MetLife a big upset win when it struck down the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s decision to apply a systemically risky label to the firm, but with few other firms facing similar designation, the practical impact of the ruling is uncertain.

The DC District Court on Wednesday ruled against the Financial Stability Oversight Council's designation of the insurance giant MetLife as a systemically risky nonbank, though the opinion behind the order was sealed and the reasoning behind the decision remains unclear.

MetLife beat back a U.S. attempt to label it too big to fail, which would've put America's biggest life insurer under tougher government scrutiny and forced it to put more money in reserves.

The ambiguity over whether regulators favor risk sensitivity or simplicity in setting capital requirements does not help risk management efforts.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams discusses the potential for new fintech products to make predatory lending easier, whether big banks need to be broken up, and the likelihood of another recession.

Restrictions on bank ownership act as a de facto poison pill, discouraging potential activist investors from challenging underperforming bank managers. Ease those restrictions and the market will do its job.

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew cast doubt Tuesday on whether recent moves by large nonbank firms to sell assets were driven by a desire to shed their regulatory label of "systemically important."

The Clearing House Association, a trade group including some of the largest U.S. banks, said in a comment letter Tuesday that the Fed’s proposed countercyclical capital buffer plan potentially violates administrative procedure laws.