NEW YORK (AP) – General Electric Co. asked the U.S. to drop the “too big to fail” tag for GE Capital, saying that its financing operations are a shadow of what they were when the Federal Reserve placed it under strict oversight in the aftermath of the global economic crisis almost a decade ago.
The company has been in broad retreat over the past year from its financial ventures, largely because of the cost and risk of complying with boundaries set by the Federal Reserve. It’s shed billions in financial assets as it returns to its industrial roots.
GE Capital was listed a “systemically important financial institution,” by the Financial Stability Oversight Council following the financial collapse of 2008, a financial institutions deemed to be so big and entwined with the U.S. financial system that it could threaten the entire economy if it failed.
That, General Electric said Thursday, has changed.
GE Capital has reduced its assets to 52 percent to $265 billion, the company said Thursday. Financing receivables are down 74 percent, from $277 billion to $72 billion. Loans secured by real estate are down 77 percent, GE said.