FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7, 2016
Contact: Shanessa Bryant, 202-618-6433 or sbryant@bettermarkets.com
Washington, DC — Dennis Kelleher, President and CEO of Better Markets, released the following statement regarding today’s court decision overruling FSOC’s designation of MetLife:
“The Federal District Court decision in MetLife’s lawsuit against FSOC is doubly dangerous and incorporates onerous new burdens on agencies that will cripple financial reform. This decision prioritizes MetLife’s interests far above the public interest and will make future financial crashes and bailouts much more likely.
“In second-guessing years of investigation and analysis by dozens of financial experts, this court seeks to hold FSOC to an impossible standard: quantifying precisely how future financial distress at a systemically significant nonbank will happen and how it will affect the entire financial system. That clairvoyant quantification duty would require FSOC to have a crystal ball. It is foisting on FSOC a standard that is not in the law and one that cannot be met.
“The court also decided to impose a cost-benefit requirement when none is imposed by statute or under ample precedent in the D.C. Circuit. This is for good reason: Not only are these determinations highly judgmental, but the benefits to the public from financial reform rules are enormous yet very difficult to quantify, while companies routinely produce mountains of supposed costs. Regarding financial rules, cost-benefit analysis becomes ‘industry cost only analysis’ where the costs to the public are grossly understated.
“This decision should be appealed and should be overturned on appeal.”
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Better Markets, Inc. is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, 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.
