NEW YORK -- Insurer MetLife Inc., which sold its bank deposits in January, says it is no longer a bank holding company.

MetLife says it received approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the board of governors of the Federal Reserve. It had been a bank holding company since 2001, and as a result it faced tougher regulation after the financial crisis and was subject to the Federal Reserve's "stress tests," which tested how banks would weather another serious downturn. The Fed has not allowed MetLife to increase its dividend or buy back shares.

MetLife sold $6.4 billion in bank deposits to General Electric Co. in January.

The New York company reported its fourth-quarter results Wednesday afternoon, and said its net income plunged after it took $855 million in losses on derivatives.