A key response to the 2008 financial crisis was setting up asuper-group of regulators to protect the economy from anotherdisastrous crash. But in the Trump era, flagging new dangers hastaken a backseat to cutting constraints on business.

The latest blow came Wednesday when the Financial StabilityOversight Council (FSOC) said it no long considered PrudentialFinancial Inc. so big and complex that the insurer's failure couldtrigger a panic.

Prudential was the last non-bank to carry the regulator'sdreaded systemic-risk label, which brings tough oversight and steepcompliance costs. When Congress created FSOC through the Dodd-FrankAct, many on Capitol Hill and Wall Street expected it to impose thetag on a number of hedge funds, private-equity firms, and insurers.Instead, the watchdog is retreating.