We would love to hear from you. Click on the ‘Contact Us’ link to the right and choose your favorite way to reach-out!

wscdsdc

media/speaking contact

Jamie Johnson

business contact

Victoria Peterson

Contact Us

855.ask.wink

Close [x]
pattern

Industry News

Categories

  • Industry Articles (21,155)
  • Industry Conferences (2)
  • Industry Job Openings (35)
  • Moore on the Market (414)
  • Negative Media (144)
  • Positive Media (73)
  • Sheryl's Articles (800)
  • Wink's Articles (353)
  • Wink's Inside Story (274)
  • Wink's Press Releases (123)
  • Blog Archives

  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • August 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • May 2008
  • February 2008
  • August 2006
  • Prudential Is Plotting Its Escape From Fed’s Tough Oversight By Jesse Hamilton

    August 22, 2017 by Jesse Hamilton

    Prudential Financial Inc. is laying the groundwork to escape the government’s label that it’s too big to fail, a move that would dramatically reduce federal oversight of the largest U.S. life insurer.

    Prudential is preparing to push a federal watchdog — the Financial Stability Oversight Council — to remove it from a list of nonbanks that regulators concluded would threaten the financial system if they collapsed, said two people familiar with the company’s plans.

    With business-friendly officials appointed by President Donald Trump taking over FSOC, the Newark, New Jersey-based company sees an opening, said the people, who asked not to be named because a final decision hasn’t been made. And the Treasury Department is expected to release a report as soon as next month criticizing how the government has gone about designating companies such as Prudential, which could provide momentum for the insurer to get out.

    Another factor helping Prudential is rival MetLife Inc.’s legal victory last year overturning its label as a systemically important financial institution, or SIFI.

    The creation of FSOC — and granting it power to flag companies as so big and interconnected that their failure could imperil the economy — was one of lawmakers’ key responses to the 2008 financial crisis. But the council, which is led by the Treasury secretary, has been controversial from the start. Republican lawmakers say its decisions are opaque and arbitrary, while companies have griped over designations or had to sell businesses to exit the government’s grip.

    Under the Dodd-Frank Act, big banks such as JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. automatically received the systemic-risk label but the number of nonbank companies designated by FSOC has been falling in recent years, with Prudential and American International Group Inc. the only two remaining. The label brings tough oversight by the Federal Reserve and a series of difficult supervisory exercises, such as stress tests and the submission of strategies for how the companies can be safely wound down in a bankruptcy.

    Lobbying Mnuchin

    Prudential quietly began its exit campaign as soon as Trump’s Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, arrived on the job in February, sending him a welcome letter contending that its status as a SIFI wasn’t appropriate, the people said.

    “We expect that ultimately we may not wind up as a SIFI,” Mark Grier, Prudential’s vice chairman, told shareholders in a May conference call, adding that Washington is “moving in the right direction” on the topic of nonbank designations. “Exactly how we get there, I’m not quite sure.”

    Prudential has “long maintained” it shouldn’t have been labeled risky in the first place and only got to that point through “flaws” in the council’s process, the company said in a Thursday statement to Bloomberg News.

    “We support the administration’s thorough review of the FSOC determination and designation process and look forward to reviewing the Treasury report upon completion,” the statement said.

    ‘Extraordinary Change’

    Prudential could get the ball rolling by sending a letter formally requesting FSOC rescind its risk label, though Treasury says such petitions must typically demonstrate a company has made “an extraordinary change that materially decreases the threat the nonbank financial company could pose.” Prudential may have an easier time when Treasury conducts an automatic annual review of its designation.

    A firm needs the Treasury secretary and at least six additional FSOC members to agree to rescind its risk label, as happened last year with General Electric Co.’s financial arm, GE Capital, after it shrunk and exited most of its financial-services operations. Other FSOC members include the leaders of the Fed, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

    The voting balance at the council is shifting in Prudential’s favor, as Trump appointees are increasingly replacing agency heads who were holdovers from the Obama administration.

    Fellow mega-insurer MetLife sued to escape its label, and in March 2016 a federal judge ruled in its favor. While the Obama administration appealed the decision, it remains to be seen how committed Trump’s Justice Department is to pursuing the case.

    ‘Thorough Review’

    In April, the president directed Mnuchin to launch a “thorough review” of FSOC’s designation methods, with a particular focus on making its approach more transparent and giving firms a better chance of getting out. MetLife has asked a federal court to hold off on ruling on the government’s appeal until Treasury completes its review.

    In another development that could benefit Prudential, the Fed and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. decided last month to give it and AIG an extra year to file their so-called living wills — the complex and labor-intensive plans in which each firm plots its route through bankruptcy. Jaret Seiberg, an analyst with Cowen & Co., interpreted that as a sign that the agencies are “likely to lift the systemically important designations from Prudential and AIG” before the new deadline.

    — With assistance by Benjamin Bain

    Originally Posted at Bloomberg on August 17, 2017 by Jesse Hamilton.

    Categories: Industry Articles
    currency