GE Capital asks U.S. government to lift 'too big to fail' designation

[March 31, 2016]  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - General Electric Co's GE Capital financing arm on Thursday formally asked the U.S. government to stop designating it as a "systemically important financial institution," a label given to companies considered "too big to fail."

The application comes the day after MetLife Inc won a court and regulatory battle over its designation..

The label, put on GE Capital in 2013, can trigger possible requirements for companies to hold more capital and for stricter oversight.

Long an industrial company, General Electric has been working to shrink GE Capital and said last April that it would focus on technology and manufacturing.

(Reporting by Lisa Lambert; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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