A judge invoked broad legal grounds to rescind federal oversight of MetLife Inc., calling into question the process the Obama administration has used to bring other large insurers under the Federal Reserve’s thumb, the Wall Street Journal reported today. U.S. District Judge Rosemary Collyer, who last week overturned regulators’ determination that distress at MetLife could put the economy at risk, yesterday unsealed her written opinion in the case. She took regulators to task for an “unreasonable” decision that didn’t consider potential costs and relied on a process that was “fatally flawed.” The administration is expected to appeal the ruling in the coming weeks, but hasn’t said explicitly that it will do so.
