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The NCUA on Friday asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia to dismiss a suit filed by the American Bankers Association against the agency's revised field-of-membership rule, approved last October.

In its reply to the ABA lawsuit, the NCUA rejects the banking trade's claims that the final rule expands the universe of members eligible to join a credit union beyond the limits set by Congress, that it violates the Administrative Procedure Act or that it is arbitrary and capricious. It asks the court to dismiss the ABA's claims "with prejudice," which would bar any future suits over the same issues raised.

The ABA, which has a longstanding practice of objecting to credit union membership expansion, filed its suit Dec. 7. NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger reiterated that NAFCU stands behind the NCUA's decision to issue this final rule, which was the first meaningful update to the agency's FOM rules over the past decade.

"As we have said previously, NCUA's field of membership rule is well within the agency's legal authority and is in keeping with the Federal Credit Union Act," Berger said. "We stand solidly in support of this rule."