NEW YORK - Wednesday, November 18th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Steven A. Kandarian, chairman, president and CEO of MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET), issued the following statement today on the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a free trade agreement among 12 nations of the Pacific Rim.

“After analyzing the text of the TPP, MetLife will support the agreement and seek congressional support for its ratification.

“As one of the largest life insurers in the world with operations in nearly 50 countries, MetLife has four key priorities in assessing any trade deal: improved market access, a level competitive playing field, ease of cross-border data flows, and regulatory transparency. The TPP makes meaningful progress on all of them.

“We are confident that ratification of the TPP will lead to faster economic growth, greater choice and lower costs for consumers in the markets where we do business, and more high-paying jobs in the U.S.

“The agreement is not perfect – no trade deal is – but on balance the TPP represents a significant step in the right direction and deserves to be ratified.”

MetLife has operations in eight of the 12 countries represented in the TPP: Australia, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Vietnam, Singapore and the United States. Specific benefits MetLife sees from the TPP include:

    Increased market access, which will benefit the region’s growing middle class by providing greater access to insurance products and financial security.
    Stronger provisions to level the playing field. The first-ever chapter on state-owned enterprises will set out new terms for competition in the region.
    Enhanced regulatory transparency, which will require prior-notice of legal and regulatory changes and the opportunity for industry to provide comments.
    Assurances that data will be able to flow freely across borders, an important outcome for MetLife’s global business.

About MetLife

MetLife, Inc. (NYSE:MET), through its subsidiaries and affiliates (“MetLife”), is one of the largest life insurance companies in the world. Founded in 1868, MetLife is a global provider of life insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management. Serving approximately 100 million customers, MetLife has operations in nearly 50 countries and holds leading market positions in the United States, Japan, Latin America, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. For more information, visit www.metlife.com.

Contacts

MetLife, Inc.

Chris Stern, 202-974-5477