Newsroom

The American Bankers Association on Friday filed a request with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia for summary judgment against the NCUA and the agency's revised field-of-membership rule, which took effect this February.

The ABA argues that the rule is an overreach of the NCUA's authority under the Federal Credit Union Act and Administrative Procedures Act, calling the rule arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of the agency's discretion.

NCUA filed its own motion this March asking the court to dismiss the suit. The agency now has until late June to file its opposition to the bankers' claims, and the ABA will have a month to submit its reply. A second round of filings could follow before the court begins to review the arguments fully.

This rule is the most comprehensive update to the FOM requirements in a decade.

"The NCUA's field of membership rule is well within the agency's legal authority and in keeping with the requirements of the Federal Credit Union Act," said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. "This suit is another outrageous effort by the banking trade group to distort the truth in its effort to block consumers' ability to choose a financial institution that puts them first. NAFCU will remain steadfast in its support of this rule."