Any legal decision on whether the largest U.S. life insurer MetLife Inc. should be labeled "too big to fail" will probably come after the Trump administration defines its stance on the designation, Reuters reported yesterday. A U.S. appeals court said on Wednesday that a U.S. government appeal of a ruling last year that the label was wrongly applied to MetLife would remain in abeyance until further court order. The label indicates companies that are not banks are still so large and interconnected they could damage the financial system if they fail. Both parties are to file motions on the case's future by Nov. 17 or within 30 days of Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin issuing a report on how the government determines non-bank financial institutions are "systemically important." The designation, which triggers heightened oversight, is decided by the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), made up of the country's top regulators.
