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A judge’s ruling that MetLife Inc. is not “too big to fail” opens up an opportunity for insurer American International Group Inc. to seek an exemption from the tag, ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ Chief Executive Peter Hancock said on CNBC on Thursday.

However, Hancock said ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ was “reserving judgment” for now.

ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s near collapse in 2008 and its $182 billion bailout by the U.S. government was the driving force behind the inclusion of certain non-bank financial companies, including ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½, as “systemically important financial institutions” (SIFIs).

The SIFI designation means regulators believe a collapse of the company could devastate the U.S. financial system just as much as the failure of a major bank and comes with increased regulatory oversight and capital requirements.

Hancock, who said “the whole world was somewhat surprised” by the MetLife ruling, noted that ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½ had shrunk its balance sheet, giving it a strong case to get its SIFI tag removed.

ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s mortgage insurance unit, United Guaranty Corp., filed for an initial public offering on Wednesday as part of ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s plan to become smaller. The company also plans to sell its broker-dealer network.

Activist investor Carl Icahn, who is ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½’s fifth largest shareholder, has been pushing the insurer to become smaller and simpler to allow it to shed its label as a non-bank SIFI.

General Electric Co.’s GE Capital, another non-bank, formally asked the U.S. government on Thursday to stop designating it a SIFI.

Shares of ÌìÃÀÍøÕ¾´«Ã½´«Ã½, which have fallen 12 percent so far this year, were little changed at $54.55 in premarket trading.

(Reporting By Sudarshan Varadhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Ted Kerr)

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