US removes GE Capital from 'too big to fail' list

US regulators removed General Electric's finance division from its list of systemically important institutions following large asset sales, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.

GE Capital Global Holdings had been designated in 2013 by a Treasury-led federal advisory panel as requiring much tougher regulatory scrutiny because of its importance to the overall financial system. The designation is commonly known as "too big to fail".

But since that time, GE Capital has signed deals to sell $180 billion in financial assets, and has closed about $156 billion of those deals, GE said in a statement Wednesday.

The industrial conglomerate said the bulk of its $200 billion divestment target for GE Capital businesses not linked to GE was expected to be largely completed by year-end.

GE asked to be dropped from the Financial Stability Oversight Council's list in late March.

"The FSOC's decision reflects the substantial reduction in GE Capital's size and risk profile and confirms that GE Capital does not pose any threat to US financial stability," GE said.

GE Capital had been classified as requiring tougher oversight based on factors that included its reliance on short-term wholesale funding and its leading position in a number of markets, the Treasury Department said.

The FSOC's removal of the designation shows the classification "is a two-way process," said US Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. "The Council will remove a designation when that company no longer poses risks to US financial stability."

GE said that GE Capital expects to deliver about $35 billion in dividends under the divestment plan.

Shares in Dow member GE rose 1.8 percent to $30.47 in mid-morning trade.