The NCUA has asked a federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by bankers challenging the agency’s Member Business Loan rules, contending, among other things, that the bankers cannot prove they are damaged by the plan.
In the suit, the NCUA argues that the recently issued MBL rules simply removed the requirement that credit unions seek agency approval for non-member business loan acquisitions that, when combined with the credit union’s member business loans, exceed a statutory cap.
The Independent Community Bankers of America filed suit in federal court in September contending the NCUA’s new MBL rules allow credit unions to exceed limitations on business loans that were established by Congress.
In the suit, the ICBA argued that at the same time, the NCBA is loosening regulatory oversight, creating risks for consumers and the financial system. The bankers asked that the rules be voided.
“It is simply too speculative to say that the marginal changes introduced by the 2016 MBL Rule—replacing an administrative requirement that credit unions seek agency approval with a risk-based approach—will imminently cause injury to the ICBA’s members,” the NCUA said.
In addition, the NCUA said that the bankers’ real argument is not with the new rules, but with MBL rules that were issued in 2003.
As a result, a six-year statute of limitation has lapsed, the NCUA said.
