MET MetLife Inc

By Lalita Clozel 

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court on Tuesday dismissed a case involving MetLife Inc.'s designation as a "systemically important financial institution," the last step in the insurer's path to shedding the label.

The move by a panel of judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit came in response to the Trump administration's decision last week to end the government's appeal of the case.

MetLife was designated as "systemically important" in 2014 by the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a body that includes the heads of financial regulatory agencies and an independent member representing the insurance industry.

The insurer challenged the label in court and won in early 2016, when U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer ordered the label to be rescinded. The oversight council had appealed Judge Collyer's decision during the end of the Obama administration.

MetLife Chief Executive Steven Kandarian said in a statement that "FSOC's 2014 designation of MetLife was a textbook case of regulatory overreach."

Write to Lalita Clozel at lalita.clozel.@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2018 16:29 ET (21:29 GMT)

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