Court dismisses MBL lawsuit against NCUA

The Credit Union National Association (CUNA) issued a statement yesterday regarding U.S. District Court Judge James Cacheris’ granting of the National Credit Union Administration’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit filed by the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA) against the agency and its member business lending rule.

“The court made the right decision in granting NCUA’s motion to dismiss ICBA’s groundless lawsuit. We had maintained all along that this was nothing more than a frivolous and ill-conceived effort by the bankers. Today’s decision is a clear message that NCUA acted well within its statutory authority when it issued its member business lending rule,” said Jim Nussle, president/CEO of CUNA. “Perhaps the bankers should put more effort into serving their own customers instead of filing meritless lawsuits that only result in wasted time and money.”

According to the court’s opinion, the lawsuit was dismissed based on ICBA’s lack of standing and timeliness. In his opinion, Judge Cacheris stated that even if the ICBA had established standing and timeliness, the court said it still would have found that the rules satisfied the requirements established by the Administrative Procedures Act and existing case law.