Metlife Inc

MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, said the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission decided not to recommend that enforcement action be taken against the company for false accounting in 2003. The company fired four employees and corrected its second-quarter earnings in 2003 after disclosing that false accounting in its New England Financial unit inflated profit by $31 million.

MetLife Inc. said Tuesday that it had agreed to sell two adjoining Manhattan apartment complexes for $5.4 billion in one of the largest U.S. real estate transactions on record. The company said it would sell Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town to a joint venture of New York real estate developer Tishman Speyer and the realty unit of BlackRock Inc.

MetLife Inc. said it would sell its namesake skyscraper above New York's Grand Central Station to Tishman Speyer Properties for $1.72 billion. The 58-story office building at 200 Park Ave. was designed by architects Walter Gropius, Pietro Belluschi and Emery Roth & Sons. It opened in March 1963 as the Pan Am Building.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating sales practices at MetLife Inc.'s New England Securities unit. The SEC is examining the unit's sales of so-called universal life policies, MetLife said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. Universal life insurance allows policyholders to determine the amount and frequency of premium payments. The insurance also allows customers to change the amount of coverage provided over time.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating sales practices at MetLife Inc.'s New England Securities unit. The SEC is examining the unit's sales of so-called universal life policies, MetLife said in a regulatory filing Tuesday. Universal life insurance allows policyholders to determine the amount and frequency of premium payments. The insurance also allows customers to change the amount of coverage provided over time.

MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, said its Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. unit would buy the long-term care insurance business of pension plan manager TIAA-CREF. New York-based MetLife did not disclose terms of the proposed purchase, which it said would strengthen its market position, especially in individual long-term care insurance. The business covers about 46,000 customers. MetLife shares fell 2 cents to $31.05 on the NYSE.

Prudential Financial Inc. and MetLife Inc. posted higher third-quarter profits as they boosted sales and cut costs. The companies were hit by large losses on investment sales, but fared better than many rivals because of their size and range of products. Newark, N.J.-based Prudential, the No. 2 U.S. life insurer, reported profit of $392 million, or 70 cents a share, compared with $52 million, or 9 cents, last year. Revenue rose 3% to $5.1 billion. New York-based MetLife, the nation's No.

John Hancock Financial Services Inc. said it agreed to sell its group life insurance operations to MetLife Inc. as it concentrates on its main businesses. Boston-based Hancock has been moving to divest itself of its non-core operations for the last several years. It has been focusing on businesses such as individual life insurance, long-term care insurance, annuities and structured financial products and institutional investment management. The deal is expected to close this year.

MetLife Inc., the biggest U.S. life insurer, said first-quarter profit rose 10% on a jump in sales. Net earnings climbed to $362 million, or 47 cents a share, from $329 million, or 44 cents, in the same period a year earlier. Profit excluding realized investment gains and losses was 62 cents, compared with the 65 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

MetLife Inc., the biggest U.S. life insurer, said second-quarter profit rose 21% on higher sales of life insurance and fixed annuities and on expense cuts. Net income rose to $387 million, or 53 cents a share, the New York-based company said. Earnings excluding investment losses were 69 cents, compared with the average analyst estimate of 64 cents by Thomson First Call.

MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, said the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission decided not to recommend that enforcement action be taken against the company for false accounting in 2003. The company fired four employees and corrected its second-quarter earnings in 2003 after disclosing that false accounting in its New England Financial unit inflated profit by $31 million.

MetLife Inc. said it would sell its namesake skyscraper above New York's Grand Central Station to Tishman Speyer Properties for $1.72 billion. The 58-story office building at 200 Park Ave. was designed by architects Walter Gropius, Pietro Belluschi and Emery Roth & Sons. It opened in March 1963 as the Pan Am Building.

MetLife Inc., one of the nation's largest insurers, is rolling out a program this week to provide free help in resolving cases of identity theft for its homeowners' and renters' insurance customers. Though several insurance companies sell identity theft coverage, mainly to reimburse consumers for their costs in dealing with misuse of their credit cards or other accounts, MetLife will be the first that works with consumers to resolve their problems at no cost.

MetLife Inc. on Monday agreed to buy Citigroup Inc.'s Travelers Life & Annuity and most of its international insurance business for $11.5 billion to become North America's biggest seller of individual life insurance. MetLife will pay Citigroup as much as $3 billion in stock and the rest in cash, the New York-based companies said.

Melanie Bloom, whose husband, David, died while covering the Iraq war for NBC News, has sued MetLife Inc. and Cigna Corp. for refusing to honor war-zone life insurance policies the broadcaster purchased before he went overseas. Bloom filed suit Thursday in federal court in New York against MetLife and Cigna to force them to pay. She says MetLife won't honor a $1-million policy and Cigna a $1.2-million policy because they concluded that Bloom died of natural causes, not war-related ones.

Aetna Inc., Cigna Corp. and MetLife Inc. said Friday that they received subpoenas from New York Atty. Gen. Eliot Spitzer amid a widening investigation into possible conflicts of interest over fees collected by insurance brokers. Spitzer is investigating whether brokers that make money by helping companies choose policies are compromising their client relationships by also accepting payments from insurers.

MetLife Inc., the biggest U.S. life insurer, will pay $76 million to settle a lawsuit brought against one of its units over Medicare payments. The New York-based company said its General American Life Insurance Co. unit and the U.S. government had agreed to a civil settlement relating to General American's Medicare contract business, which ended in 1998, two years before MetLife acquired the company. MetLife also agreed to stop seeking Medicare business for five years. The lawsuit, filed in U.S.

MetLife Inc.'s decision to go public will make it the most widely held stock in the country, supplanting Lucent Technologies Inc. (LU). Take that, new economy. On Tuesday, MetLife became the latest insurance company to convert from mutual ownership by its policyholders to public ownership, as underwriters priced 202 million shares at $14.25 apiece. The stock rose 6 cents to $15.56 on the New York Stock Exchange.

MetLife Inc., the largest U.S. life insurer, said its Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. unit would buy the long-term care insurance business of pension plan manager TIAA-CREF. New York-based MetLife did not disclose terms of the proposed purchase, which it said would strengthen its market position, especially in individual long-term care insurance. The business covers about 46,000 customers. MetLife shares fell 2 cents to $31.05 on the NYSE.

John Hancock Financial Services Inc. said it agreed to sell its group life insurance operations to MetLife Inc. as it concentrates on its main businesses. Boston-based Hancock has been moving to divest itself of its non-core operations for the last several years. It has been focusing on businesses such as individual life insurance, long-term care insurance, annuities and structured financial products and institutional investment management. The deal is expected to close this year.