MetLife's impending sale of $7.5 billion in retail banking deposits to GE Capital is still on, but an exact closing date has yet to be determined.
In a letter dated May 21 and addressed to the SEC, Matthew M. Ricciardi, chief counsel for MetLife Group, Inc., wrote that no events had arisen that would interfere with the closing of the deal, which the company had said would occur four to six months after it was originally announced late last year. MetLife further noted it was awaiting regulatory approvals.
"The company has concluded that it is no longer appropriate for it to specify the timing for obtaining the requisite regulatory approvals needed to complete the transaction," Ricciardi wrote. Specifically, the letter stated it had not yet been advised when the pending Bank Merger Act application related to the deal would be presented to the FDIC board.
MetLife spokesperson John Calagna said in an email that the company had no additional comment beyond what was in the letter.
The MetLife correspondence was in response to a May 7 letter from Jeffrey Riedler, assistant director, division of corporate finance, at the SEC in which he asked if any events had "interfered or materially threatened the consummation of the transaction to sell the depository business." An SEC spokesperson contacted by LifeHealPro.com said the agency had no further comment on the matter.
