When You Fail In The Marketplace, Turn To Government For Help

Especially when you're as politically connected as GE Capital is to the Democratic Party.

General Electric Co.'s finance arm agreed to buy the U.S. retail-deposit business of insurer MetLife Inc., in a deal that matches the life insurer's desire to get out from under federal regulation with GE's pursuit of a more-reliable funding source. ... The agreement announced Tuesday is the latest sign of how new rules and stricter oversight are changing the finance landscape. GE Capital, which long existed in a regulatory gray area between banking and industry, has grown more comfortable emphasizing traditional banking after falling under the regulation of the Federal Reserve in the wake of the financial crisis.

MetLife, moving in the opposite direction, put its banking operations on the block in July in hopes of getting out from under the regulation of the Fed.

GE has been looking for a way to turn GE Capital around for years. Dodd-Frank offered them the perfect opportunity to enlist the federal government in their reorganization effort. MetLife is no mom-and-pop operation, but a deal like this only solidifies GE Capital as an institution that is too big to fail.