U.S. regulatory panel kicks off Prudential review, discusses volatility

WASHINGTON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - A panel of U.S. regulators on Wednesday kicked off a review of whether insurer Prudential (Amsterdam: PD8.AS - news) Financial Inc should continue to be subject to stringent oversight, according to a public notice.

The U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which designates which financial companies would pose a risk to the country’s financial system if they failed, said on Wednesday it discussed the “annual re-evaluation of the designation of a non-bank financial company”.

Prudential (SES: K6S.SI - news) had previously confirmed it was the company concerned.

The insurer is the only non-bank financial company currently designated as a “systemically important financial institution” by FSOC. The panel last year released rival insurer AIG from the label and agreed this month to drop its earlier appeal against a court decision releasing MetLife (NYSE: MET - news) from the designation.

FSOC did not provide any further information on the review, which is likely to last several months.

The regulatory panel also discussed recent volatility in the financial markets, including fluctuations in cryptocurrency futures and the impact on financial institutions, it said in the notice.

"Council members noted that they continue to monitor market developments," the notice added. (Reporting by Michelle Price; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)