As noted in previous blog posts, on March 30, 2016, MetLife prevailed against the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) when a US District Court Judge for the District of Columbia issued an order overturning the FSOC’s designation of MetLife as a Systemically Important Financial Institution (SIFI). The designation of  SIFIs is one of the many mandates of the FSOC, which was established by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act and oversees the stability of the U.S. financial system.

The FSOC subsequently appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and the case is pending.

However, on April 21, 2017, the White House issued a Presidential Memorandum that orders the Treasury Secretary to undertake a review of the FSOC determination and designation process and within 180 days, provide a report on the review and how the determination and designation process could be improved. Our blog post, accessible here, provides more information on that Presidential Memorandum and other recent Trump administration deregulation initiatives.

MetLife promptly went to the U.S. Court of Appeals and filed a motion asking that the case be held in abeyance for 180 days pending the issuance of the FSOC review report. In its response to this motion, U.S. Department of Justice attorneys stated that while the FSOC did not have an opinion on the motion to hold the case in abeyance until the release of the report, it would consent only to a 60-day abeyance. On May 12, 2017, the Court of Appeals issued an order granting a 60 day abeyance of the case.