MetLife To Repay AIG $190M From Japan Tax Dispute

By Robert Dixon

InsuranceNewsNet

A chunk of a $190 million award from a tax case in a Japanese court will be repaid to American International Group by MetLife, according to regulatory filings and a news report. American Life, which MetLife acquired from AIG in 2010, won the case, according to a MetLife filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The tax case resulted from unrealized foreign exchange losses on securities held by American Life prior to its acquisition, MetLife said in the filing.

American Life won the award, including interest and penalties, and had collected $160 million, MetLife said in a filing detailing the company’s financial state at the end of 2012.

As a result, MetLife will record a $30 million charge in the current quarter.

AIG sold American Life to MetLife for $16 billion to help repay its U.S. government bailout, Bloomberg reported. MetLife bought the company as part of its strategy to expand internationally. American Life operated in more than 50 countries.

In yet another part of its restructuring strategy, MetLife has received approval from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to exit the banking business, the insurer said in a press release.

MetLife said Feb. 13 that net income for the fourth quarter of 2013 declined to $127 million from $990 million a year earlier. Operating profit, which excludes some investing results, was $1.25 per share. For the full year, the company also saw results tumble, from $6.42 billion in 2011 to $1.32 billion in 2012. The company blamed low interest rates, annuities which provide guaranteed incomes and low bond yields for the decline, according to its year-end financial report.

AIG blamed losses of $4 billion, or 8 cents per share, in the fourth quarter in part on claims from Superstorm Sandy in its Feb. 20 quarterly report.

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