MetLife Securities Investigation

Squitieri & Fearon, LLP is investigating claims for people who had annuities through MetLife Securities, Inc. (MSI) and had those annuity contracts replaced by MetLife with more expensive annuities or with annuities that had less favorable features.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) recently fined MSI $25 million for its improper practices.  FINRA ordered MetLife to pay $5 million to its customers for making negligent material misrepresentations and omissions on variable annuity (VA) replacement applications for tens of thousands of customers.  Each misrepresentation and omission made the replacement appear more beneficial to the customer, even though the recommended VAs were typically more expensive than customers’ existing VAs.  MSI’s VA replacement business constituted a substantial portion of its business, generating at least $152 million in gross dealer commissions for the firm over a six-year period.

FINRA found that from 2009 through 2014, MSI misrepresented or omitted at least one material fact relating to the costs and guarantees of customers’ existing VA contracts in 72 percent of the 35,500 VA replacement applications the firm approved, based on a sample of randomly selected transactions.

FINRA also found that MSI failed to ensure that its registered representatives obtained and assessed accurate information concerning the recommended VA replacements, and did not adequately train its registered representatives to compare the relative costs and guarantees involved in replacing one VA with another.

In addition, FINRA found that since at least 2009, firm customers have received misleading quarterly account statements that understate the total charges and fees incurred on certain VA contracts.

If you or somebody you know had annuities through MSI and had those annuity contracts replaced by MetLife, please contact Stephen J. Fearon, Jr. at (212) 421-6492 or stephen@sfclasslaw.com. You can also complete the following form, and someone from the firm will contact you.


 

MetLife Securities Investigation

  • Please list the name of the institution that you claim engaged in an improper fee sharing agreement.
    Any information that you submit will be maintained as confidential. If Squitieri & Fearon, LLP, in its sole discretion, believes that you might be an appropriate lead plaintiff candidate, Squitieri & Fearon, LLP will contact you to discuss the matter and whether to establish an attorney client relationship.