Metropolitan Life and the Shadow Banking Controversy: Non-Bank Investment Alternatives to Traditional Banking

Abstract

This article examines the recent controversy between the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC) and the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (MetLife) concerning the FSOC’s final determination concerning the need for the FSOC to oversee MetLife’s shadow banking activities and the company’s continuing efforts to contest the rights of the FSOC to regulate the company’s activities. The article concludes that regulation is indeed necessary in light of comparable international regulation sand the financial ramifications of the company’s activities.