MetLife To Pay $60M Fine for Licensing Violations

MetLife (NYSE:MET) has agreed to pay $60 million in fines to settle charges the insurance giant’s subsidiaries sought business in New York without the proper licensing and then misled investigators looking into the charges.

The subsidiaries, ALICO and DelAm, were acquired from American International Group (NYSE:AIG) in 2010.

Investigations by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office revealed that those subsidiaries solicited insurance business in New York without a license and made “intentional misrepresentations and omissions” during an investigation.

MetLife will pay $50 million to DFS and $10 million to the Manhattan DA’s Office.

MetLife has also agreed to fully cooperate with DFS’s ongoing investigation into AIG, ALICO, and DelAm related to conduct prior to MetLife’s acquisition.

DFS Superintendent Benjamin Lawsky said in a statement: “Our department will continue to aggressively investigate and pursue wrongdoing within this industry wherever we uncover it. MetLife did the right thing by stepping up to resolve this matter.”

MetLife said in a statement: “With these agreements we have resolved the New York licensing matter and look forward to continuing to provide our multinational clients with solutions for their growing global employee benefits needs.”

The statement added, “The agreement with DFS makes clear that our Global Employee Benefits business can continue to have meetings and discussions in New York with our multinational clients and prospects about the capabilities of MetLife’s non-U.S. affiliates and partners.”

MetLife’s shares were up 39 cents, or 0.74%, at $52.95 in afternoon trading.