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NEWS RELEASE
July 21, 2008
ABA Media Contact: Peter Garuccio
(202) 663-5452
E-mail: pgarucci@aba.com
ABA STATEMENT ON PENNSYLVANIA FEDERAL COURT DECISION IN CREDIT UNION CASE
by Edward L. Yingling, ABA president and CEO
“ABA, along with the Credit Union Strategies Task Force of Pennsylvania, is very pleased to have achieved this important victory and we applaud the court for its decision.
“The court has affirmed our position that the National Credit Union Administration acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner when it concluded that a 3,400 square mile area covering three cities, 93 boroughs, 140 townships and 50 school districts constituted a well-defined, local community. As today’s decision makes clear, the NCUA exhibited ‘a certain deafness’ to the ‘substantial body of evidence’ indicating that the area in question was not in fact a well-defined, local community.
“The court has sent a strong signal to the NCUA that it will no longer be able to disregard the law in pursuit of its desire to make it easy for expansion-minded credit unions to increase their fields of membership. Essentially, the court concluded that NCUA did not do its due diligence, noting that ‘determinism, not documentation’ drove the agency’s decision and that the evidence NCUA relied on was ‘at best incomplete, and at worst, self-serving.’
“We hope that the court’s admonishment will compel the NCUA to be less self-serving in its regulatory oversight. The ABA remains vigilant and will challenge the agency when necessary to defend the interests of our members.”
Background
The Credit Union Strategies Task force of Pennsylvania is a joint task force of the Pennsylvania Association of Community Bankers and the Pennsylvania Bankers Association and represents approximately 250 banks in Pennsylvania.
For a copy of the court’s decision click here.
For information on similar court decisions click here.
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The American Bankers Association brings together banks of all sizes and charters into one association. ABA works to enhance the competitiveness of the nation's banking industry and strengthen America’s economy and communities. Its members – the majority of which are banks with less than $125 million in assets – represent over 95 percent of the industry’s $13.3 trillion in assets and employ over 2 million men and women.
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