National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) President and CEO Dan Berger issued the following statement in response to the American Bankers Association’s lawsuit against the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) challenging its final field of membership rule.
"If the banks had put this much effort and money into policing themselves, maybe they could have helped avoid the financial crisis they caused that harmed consumers and our country's economy,” said Berger.
“NCUA’s field of membership rule is well within the agency’s legal authority and is in keeping with the Federal Credit Union Act,” Berger noted. “This suit is another outrageous effort by the banking trade group to distort the truth and continue to stymie credit unions’ ability to provide consumers with the choice of a financial institution that puts them first,” Berger continued. "NAFCU will remain steadfast in its support of this rule."
The NCUA’s final and proposed rules represent the first major review of the common-bond requirements related to community, multiple-group and trade, industry or profession charter types in more than 10 years.
NAFCU supports the NCUA’s FOM rule as a necessary measure that will allow credit unions to keep pace with state law changes as well as technology and the progress of the financial services industry.