Friday, January 08, 1999
Bankers sue to derail new credit union rule
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The nation's bankers, who suffered defeat in Congress in their fight with credit unions, are taking a federal agency to court to challenge a new rule allowing more people to join credit unions.
The American Bankers Association, the industry's biggest trade group, Thursday said it would file suit in U.S. District Court in Washington asking for an injunction barring the National Credit Union Administration from putting the new rule into effect.
The independent federal agency “clearly thumbed its nose at Congress when it adopted this rule,” Harley Bergmeyer, chairman of the ABA's credit union advisory group, said in a statement. “There's no doubt in our minds that the rule violates both the letter and intent of the law.”
It is the second time the bankers' group has gone to court over the issue. The first legal action led to a 1998 Supreme Court ruling favoring the banks over the credit unions.
The new rule, adopted by the agency Dec. 17, codifies a law enacted last summer in a stinging defeat for the banking industry. The legislation overrode the Supreme Court ruling by allowing federally chartered credit unions to continue to include more than one occupational group in their memberships — as long as each group doesn't exceed 3,000 people.
NCUA Chairman Norman D'Amours called the bankers' lawsuit “nothing new and no surprise.”
“I believe they would have filed suit regardless of how our final regulation looked,” he said.
The credit union industry has said the new rule will allow millions of people, including employees of small businesses, to join credit unions, whose services generally cost less than comparable services at banks.
Holiday sales make comeback
Provident Bank expands ATM group
Surfing on sofa becomes science
Toyota VP predicts more record sales for Camry
Bankers sue to derail new credit union rule
TRISTATE BUSINESS SUMMARY
INDUSTRY NOTES: MANUFACTURING
PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
TRISTATE MARKET SPOTLIGHT
