New York insurer MetLife, with operations in Hartford, is exploring the sale of its bank business because, while it represents only a small portion of overall income, the company must be regulated as a bank holding company, the insurer said Thursday, The Associated Press reports.
Bank regulations have become stiffer since the financial crisis and being forced to comply with those rules could put the insurer at a competitive disadvantage.
The bank represented 2 percent of MetLife’s first quarter operating earnings, yet a large part of the business is governed by regulations written for banks, said CEO Steven Kandarian.
MetLife Bank began in 2001 by offering retail savings products through the Internet. The bank’s MetLife Home Loans division launched in 2008 following the acquisition of the reverse mortgage business of EverBank LLC, and certain mortgage assets of First Horizon Home Loans from First Tennessee Bank.
MetLife Bank had total assets of $15.6 billion, including $9.3 billion in deposits as of March 31.
