MetLife (MET.N), the largest life insurance company in the United States, has put its banking operations up for sale to avoid the "too big to fail" regulatory scrutiny that analysts have said was likely. MetLife said on Thursday it may sell MetLife Bank's depository business, which includes savings and money market accounts. The company said it will still write home mortgages; life insurers tend to like mortgages as part of a diversified investment portfolio. MetLife has hired Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), which ran the recent sale process for larger online bank ING Direct USA, to handle the sale. One industry source said many of the companies that lost out on ING Direct may look at MetLife Bank, among them Ally Financial and CIT Group (CIT.N). Ally and CIT declined to comment.
MetLife, Inc. (MetLife) is a provider of insurance, annuities and employee benefit programs, serving 90 million customers in over 60 countries. Shares of MET traded higher by 2.81% or $1.15/share to $42.04. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $35.38 and as high as $48.72. On average, 7298360 shares of MET exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 8550845.
CIT Group Inc. (CIT) is a bank holding company, which provides commercial financing and leasing products, and management advisory services to clients in a variety of industries. Shares of CIT fell by 0.91% or $-0.36/share to $39.23. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $35.67 and as high as $49.57. On average, 1746700 shares of CIT exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 2344048.
Source
