The Federal Reserve Board announced last month that it is considering delaying implementation for the annual company-run stress test requirements until September 2013.
The delay would apply to insurers that have thrift holding companies, as well as banks, with between $10 billion and $50 billion in total consolidated assets. Insurers with thrifts—any savings and loan holding company, in fact—would have a lower threshold of $10 million in assets once those holding companies become subject to minimum risk-based capital requirements.
MetLife, Inc. (NYSE: MET) owns a bank–it is a bank holding company–which it is trying to sell before full Dodd-Frank Act implementation. MetLife was one of four large financial institutions deemed to have failed a "stress test" in March, a decision then roundly criticized by MetLife and insurance analysts.
In MetLife's reaction to the Fed decision, Steven Kandarian, chairman, CEO and president, said that amongst the things MetLife was penalized for was the holding of funds of variable annuity customers in separate accounts. It is likely that it will resubmit a capital plan this month.
MetLife, according to LIMRA, is the largest seller of VAs that offer "living benefits" payouts. Kandarian also said that the Fed's methodology unfairly resulted in "harsh treatment" for MetLife's corporate bond portfolio.
