December 18, 2019

MetLife, Inc. has agreed to pay $10 million to settle charges of violating internal accounting control provisions of federal securities laws.  Of the two errors that resulted from these violations, one ran for 25 years and involved the improper release of reserves for annuitants presumed dead after minimal attempts to make contact.  A second error involved the overstating of reserves and understating of income related to a subsidiary’s variable annuity guarantees.  In 2017, Metlife increased reserves by $510 million to correct the first error, and reduced reserves by $896 million to correct the second.  SEC

Tagged in: Accounting Fraud,