- The Bank of England months ago penned a letter to the U.S. Treasury asking why The Oracle's reinsurance operation has been left off of Financial Stability Board's provisional list of too big too fail institutions.
- MetLife (NYSE:MET) - which has sued the U.S. government over its curious designation as a SIFI - would also probably like to know, as would a number of other primary insurers that have been so tagged.
- Berkshire (BRK.A, BRK.B) is part of a group of reinsurers - Swiss Re (OTCPK:SSREY) and Munich Re also come to mind - which have thus far escaped such scrutiny, even though primary insurers might argue the reinsurers are more important to the global financial system. The Basel-based FSB was supposed to make a reinsurance list public last year, but postponed the effort in November "pending further development of the methodology."
- Insurance is Berkshire's most significant business - accounting for 27% of net earnings last year - and providing Warren Buffett with the capital to invest in stocks and acquisitions.
- Source: FT