MetLife Shareholder Derivative Suit Should Be Tossed, Judge Says

A MetLife Inc. shareholder’s derivative suit over the allegedly improper withholding of around $500 million in annuities should be dismissed, a federal magistrate judge in Delaware said.

The shareholder said MetLife’s directors didn’t disclose that the life insurance company’s annuity reserve estimation practice and procedures were inadequate. But the complaint “failed to state a federal claim,” and the necessary support to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over state claims is lacking, the recommendation and report issued Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware said.

The complaint is based “on the theory that MetLife was defrauded when it repurchased ...