FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 8, 2017
Contact: Nick Jacobs, 202-618-6430 or njacobs@bettermarkets.com
Washington, D.C. – In a Court filing today in the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in the pending MetLife v. FSOC appeal, Better Markets seeks to oppose MetLife’s request for a stay of the legal case based on the unrelated report President Trump requested Treasury Secretary Mnuchin to complete in 180 days. Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, released the following statement:
“Apparently in fear of losing its lawsuit against FSOC and being re-designated as a systemically significant nonbank, MetLife appears to have orchestrated an elaborate eleventh-hour political maneuver to stop the ongoing legal case. More than six months after the case was argued in the Court of Appeals, and on the eve of that Court issuing its decision, MetLife is attempting to use President Trump’s legally unrelated request to the Treasury Secretary for a report as a reason to delay and eventually halt the fully briefed and argued case.
“MetLife in its Motion failed to clearly inform the Court that, among other things, FSOC is a separate legal entity with independent legal duties, not merely an appendage of the administration. It also failed to clearly inform the Court that, whatever the Treasury Departments says in six months in its report to the President, that won’t change the legal case or FSOC’s procedures or decisions. Only FSOC can do that, not the President or the Treasury Secretary, who is just one of ten voting members on FSOC.
“Remarkably, the FSOC’s lawyers at the Department of Justice, which also represents the President and the Treasury Department, similarly failed to inform the court of these material facts, among others. This suggests that there is an apparent breakdown of the adversary system and raises questions about whether DOJ is really providing independent and unconflicted advice to FSOC.
“At best, this is an egregious attempt at forum shopping, where an industry and White House-lead political process seeks to circumvent the legal process in a case of critical importance to the protection of the American people. FSOC is the only governmental entity with the power and authority to designate systemically significant nonbanks and, thereby, regulate the shadow banking system. MetLife’s lawsuit threatens FSOC’s ability to do that and should be promptly decided by the Court of Appeals without any political interference.”
[Here is the link to Better Markets’ Motion.]
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Better Markets is a non-profit, non-partisan, and independent organization founded in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis to promote the public interest in the financial markets, support the financial reform of Wall Street and make our financial system work for all Americans again. Better Markets works with allies – including many in finance – to promote pro-market, pro-business and pro-growth policies that help build a stronger, safer financial system that protects and promotes Americans’ jobs, savings, retirements and more. To learn more, visit www.bettermarkets.com.
